Shattered Trust - Separation
by cleotheo
Summary: After losing the love of his life, Draco Malfoy spirals down a dark path. But unbeknown to him Hermione Granger is very much alive and fighting her way back to him. But is it already too late for the young couple? Part two of a four part story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Welcome to part 2 of Shattered Trust. As the subtitle indicates, this part of the story focuses on the time Draco and Hermione are separated. This is also where Draco's darkness begins to show itself. Updates will be every Wednesday, and this part has 12 chapters.**

* * *

Hermione Granger's head was pounding as she groggily opened her eyes. The second the dim light from the room penetrated her vision, she quickly closed them again. Lying with her eyes closed, she tried to clear her head before gingerly trying again. This time the light didn't hurt her eyes and Hermione was able to sit up. Blinking slowly, Hermione looked around the small room she was in, trying to decide what had happened to her and where she was.

The last thing Hermione could remember was being in Hogsmeade. She remembered spending the morning with Harry and Ron, helping with the rebuilding work alongside Remus and Tonks. She remembered the boys going to grab some lunch, and then Tonks receiving a message saying they were needed back with the Order. Hermione clearly remembered Tonks convincing her to let her apparate them back up the castle, but after that there was nothing. She had no recollection of what had happened after her and Tonks dissapparated from Hogsmeade.

Hermione wasn't sure if it was both her and Tonks that were ambushed and taken, or it was Tonks herself who had taken her. But why would Tonks kidnap her? Hermione shook her head at the bizarre notion. Whatever had happened, Tonks was also a victim, of that she was sure.

Looking around at the small room, Hermione thought it didn't look like somewhere you would normally hold a prisoner. The room itself was actually quite comfortable, and reminded Hermione of the sort of guest room you might find in someone's home. There was a double bed, which she was still lying in, and a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and a dressing table all made from the same light wood. The walls were painted light purple and a cream carpet covered the floor, with a deep purple rug standing beside the bed. However, appearances could be deceiving and no matter how nice the room was, she was still being held against her will. Now all she had to do was find out who had her.

Swinging her legs off the bed, Hermione looked down at herself and found she was dressed differently than she had been on Saturday. The jeans she was wearing was a slightly darker shade and she was now wearing a lightweight lilac sweater, instead of a green top. Looking around, Hermione found her boots and a pair of brand new trainers in the corner of the room. Getting up she grabbed her boots and pulled them on, before exploring the rest of her room. The wardrobe and the single chest of drawers all held clothes in her size, and even her style. She even found her jeans and green top among the clothes, although they both looked as though they'd been freshly washed. And on top of the dressing table was all the toiletries and cosmetics she might need, once again all things she used and liked.

The presence of clothes and toiletries was worrying, it meant whoever had her had been prepared and wasn't planning on letting her go any-time soon. It was also unnerving that the clothes and other stuff they'd bought were all things she would buy herself. Clearly whoever had her had done their homework on her and they had known what sort of clothes and other bits to buy.

However, what was more worrying was the fact Hermione couldn't find her wand. She'd searched the entire room, and couldn't find it. She'd even tried summoning it with wandless magic, and still nothing happened. Hermione couldn't decide if the second failure to find her wand was due to the fact it wasn't wherever she was, or there was some sort of wards and spells preventing her from doing magic. Her wandless magic was easily strong enough to summon her wand under normal circumstances. In fact her wandless magic was pretty strong all round, and while she usually used a wand when she was performing magic it was more out of habit then absolute necessity.

Deciding to see just what she could do without her wand, Hermione tried a bit of wandless magic. She soon found she could do simple things, like summoning the pillow from the bed, but she couldn't do anything major. At one point Hermione had tried blasting open the window, but nothing happened. She was confident there were wards around her, but they seemed focused on stopping any magic that might prove useful if she tried to escape.

After spending nearly twenty minutes working out what sort of magic she could and couldn't do, Hermione wandered over to have a look out the window. Directly down below the window was a peaceful looking garden, and beyond the garden was a beach and a dark expanse of blue sea. Hermione had no idea if the house she was being held was on an island, or was just near the coast, but hopefully she could find out as she was looking for a way out of her prison.

With the room thoroughly searched and her magic limitations known to her, Hermione made her way over to the door. She wasn't sure if it would even open, but it had to be worth a shot. Much to Hermione's surprise the door opened immediately, it hadn't even been locked and just swung open when Hermione turned the handle. Hermione wasn't sure if the fact the door was unlocked, was even more suspicious and she vowed to proceed with caution.

Tiptoeing from the room, Hermione found three more doors on a small landing. A set of stairs started just a few meters away from the room she'd just exited and a peer down them showed they lead to the ground floor. Deciding to explore upstairs first, Hermione cautiously pushed open the first door. The first room she entered was a bathroom, with the cabinet over the sink stocked with the essentials that weren't sitting on the dressing table in the room she'd woken up in. The next two rooms were bedrooms, but unlike the room she was in there were no clothes or anything indicating there was someone else in the house with her.

Not finding any answers upstairs, Hermione slowly began to make her way down the stairs. The stairs ended in a small hallway, and Hermione immediately tried to open the front door. Unlike the other doors she tried upstairs, the front door remained firmly shut and no amount of wandless magic could budge it. Leaving the front door, Hermione turned to the side and found an open door. The door led into a comfortable looking living room, although again there was no sign of anyone living there. The room contained a sofa, a couple of chairs, a coffee table, a few end tables, one of which held a radio, and a bookshelf stuffed with books. Even though the room held everything to make it habitable, it had an unused feeling about it. Everything was in its perfect place, with nothing looking as though it had been used.

Crossing through the room without searching it completely, Hermione exited through a second doorway and found herself in a cosy country style kitchen. The kitchen did look slightly more habitable, with food visible in the cupboards that held no doors. Hermione however paid very little attention to the kitchen itself, her focus was on the open back door. Just as she was about to cross over to the door a shadow appeared in the doorway and Sirius entered the house, carrying a paper.

"You're up," Sirius greeted with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling?" Hermione repeated, slightly dumbstruck at coming face to face with Harry's godfather. Just how did Sirius fit into her being kidnapped? "I'm feeling bloody confused, that's how I'm feeling."

"Why don't you sit down and I can explain everything," Sirius suggested as he threw his paper onto the table and walked over to fill the kettle. "I'll make us some tea."

"I don't want tea, I want answers," Hermione demanded forcefully. "What am I doing here?"

"We did it for your own protection, Hermione," Sirius sighed, turning around to face the angry young witch. "We're protecting you from Voldemort."

"Not this again," Hermione cried, slumping into a seat as things started to make sense. Tonks hadn't been a victim like her, she'd been the one to snatch her on behest of the Order. Now all Hermione had to do was convince the Order that they were overreacting. "I don't need protection, Sirius. I appreciate the fact you're worried about me, but this isn't necessary. I want to go back to school."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," Sirius said apologetically. "Dumbledore has warded the house, so you can't leave the premises. You can go into the back garden, but you'll not be able to pass across the boundary line."

"Oh my god, you've kidnapped me," Hermione gasped, horrified at the lengths Dumbledore and the Order had gone to. Even when she'd found out the Order were behind what had happened, she still hadn't realised how far they'd gone to keep her out of Voldemort's clutches.

"We're protecting you," Sirius corrected as he turned back and set about making some tea.

"I don't need protecting," Hermione repeated under her breath.

She knew there was no point arguing with Sirius, as he was just a pawn in the plan. The ringleader was Dumbledore, it was him she needed to speak to and talk some sense into. No doubt no-one else could even release her from the cottage but Dumbledore, so she was wasting her time in trying to convince Sirius to let her go. What she needed to do was find out when Dumbledore was coming so she could speak to him personally.

"So if you lot are supposedly protecting me, does that mean you're stuck here looking after me?" Hermione questioned, doing her best to keep the anger from her voice as she spoke to Sirius. After all, he wasn't the one who had come up with this ridiculous plan to kidnap her.

"I'm here for the time being, but a few others will be taking their turns as well," Sirius replied as he placed two steaming cups of tea onto the kitchen table.

"And what about Dumbledore?" Hermione asked. "When will I see him?"

"He's a very busy man," Sirius answered quickly as he picked up his cup again and turned towards the cupboards. "I'll bet you're starving, I'll make dinner."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Sirius's back, unimpressed with his failure to answer her question. Judging from the shifty way he was acting, Dumbledore had no intention of coming to see her. Clearly the Headmaster was leaving her in the hands of other Order members, and wouldn't be gracing her with his presence. That meant she would have to find her own way out of the cottage.

While Sirius set about making something to eat, Hermione pulled the paper towards her as she got thinking about how to escape. Plans for escaping quickly got put on the back burner, as Hermione gaped at the front page of The Daily Prophet. Not only was the day, Tuesday, meaning she'd been unconscious for three days, but the headline in the paper was about her. 'Head Girl at Hogwarts tragically dies,' read the headline. In total disbelief, Hermione skimmed the article detailing how she was apparently found injured in the forest on Saturday and died early on Sunday morning following complications from her severe injuries.

"What the hell is this?" she exploded, throwing the paper onto the table. "You've faked my death."

"Damn, I didn't mean for you to see that," Sirius muttered.

"Then you shouldn't have left it lying around," Hermione retorted sharply. Suddenly not taking her anger out on Sirius wasn't important, especially since he was in on what had turned out to be an even more horrific plan than what she'd thought. "What have you lot done, Sirius?"

"We're protecting you," Sirius said. Hermione thought he was beginning to sound like a stuck record, just repeating the same phrase over and over again, and she had to wonder if it was her he was trying to convince or himself. "If Voldemort thinks you're dead, he won't come after you."

"You can't pretend I'm dead, that's crazy," Hermione shouted. "And what about my parents, and friends? Do they know I'm not really dead?"

"Harry and Ron know, they were in on the plan," Sirius admitted, deciding now wasn't the right time to mention that Harry had actually been the one to come up with the plan. "But no-one else does. Dumbledore, Tonks, Remus, Molly and Arthur are the only other people who know you're alive."

"You've let my parents think I'm dead," Hermione whispered on the verge of tears as the implications of what the Order had done began to really sink in.

She hated to think what her parents were going through, not to mention what Draco thought. Thinking of her boyfriend and the hell he must be going through, combined with thoughts of her grieving parents, proved too much for Hermione and she began to cry. The three people she loved more than anything would be going through unbelievable torture, all because the Order had foolishly decided to listen to Voldemort when he'd issued a ridiculous threat.

"It's for the best Hermione," Sirius said quietly, not sure how to deal with the crying teenager. "We can speak to your parents when this is all over and make sure they understand."

"How could you possibly make them understand?" Hermione sobbed. "You can't even make me understand. I hate the lot of you, you're all monsters. I will find a way to escape and I'll make sure everyone knows what heartless creatures you all are."

Pushing herself away from the table, Hermione stood up and fled the kitchen. Making her way back to the room she'd awakened in, she threw herself on the bed and dissolved into even more tears. She couldn't believe the Order had done this to her, and the people she loved, and she vowed to find a way out of the mess she was in. She would get back to her parents and Draco, and when she did she was having nothing more to do with the Order or anyone who'd had anything to do with faking her death.


	2. Chapter 2

"Draco!" Blaise Zabini hollered as he banged on the door to the head dorms.

Beside Blaise was Theo Nott, and the two Slytherins were deeply concerned about their best friend. Draco hadn't been seen since early on Sunday morning, when news of the Head Girl's death had broken. Blaise and Theo weren't particularly surprised when Draco vanished on the Sunday and Monday as they'd long suspected he was involved with Hermione. That was why they'd given him some space to grieve, but they had expected to see him in classes that day. All day they'd waited for their best friend to make an appearance, but when he still hadn't been seen by the end of the last lesson of the day the two Slytherins had decided to seek out their best friend. Even if Draco was grieveing, he needed some support and Blaise and Theo intended to be there for their best friend.

"Come on Draco, open up," Theo called.

"We're not leaving until you let us in," Blaise added. "We're stubborn buggers, you know that, Draco. Ignoring us won't work."

Raising his hand to bang on the door again, Blaise almost stumbled through the door when it was wrenched open. However, when he opened his mouth to give his best friend a piece of his mind, he was confronted with the head of Slytherin, Severus Snape. Although more confusing was the fact that Blaise and Theo could see Draco's father, Lucius, in the common room throwing some books into a box.

"Is Draco okay?" Theo asked, fear twisting at his gut as he wondered what had happened to his best friend. He just prayed Draco hadn't done anything rash as he didn't think he could forgive himself for not checking on his best friend earlier if anything terrible had happened.

"Draco's left school," Severus replied with a sigh.

"But no, he's not okay," Lucius added from the behind his old friend. "Far from it."

"He's cut up about Hermione, isn't he?" Blaise asked.

"Just what do you know about the Granger girl?" Lucius asked, gesturing for his son's two friends to enter the head dorms.

Since his return on Sunday night, Draco had refused to speak about the witch he'd lost. In fact, he'd refused to speak full stop, leaving Lucius and Narcissa deeply concerned over their son.

"We didn't know anything for sure," Blaise answered as he and Theo entered the room and Severus shut the door behind them. "We've long suspected he was involved with someone, but it was only this year we realised it was Hermione. Even though he never said anything, it was obvious whenever we were up here."

"Did you never ask him about it?" Severus asked. To be honest, he hadn't noticed anything and he'd been stunned when Lucius had told him Draco had been involved with Hermione.

"We didn't like to pry," Theo replied with a shrug. "We knew he would confide in us when he was ready."

"We should have come to check on him sooner," Blaise sighed. "We thought it was better to give him some space."

"I'm not sure you could have helped him even if you had visited him earlier," Lucius confessed. "Right now, I don't know who or what will help him."

"Is he really in such a bad way?" Blaise questioned with a wince.

"He turned up at home late on Sunday night, and went straight to see The Dark Lord," Lucius replied. "He went and told him everything about the Granger girl."

"Bloody hell, was he trying to get himself killed?" Theo gasped, shocked by Draco's rashness.

"That was exactly what he was trying to do," Lucius replied solemnly.

"No," Theo whispered. Even though he'd just said it, it had been more of a joke, he hadn't for one minute thought that Draco had tried to get himself killed.

"Draco isn't that stupid," Blaise insisted. "Yes, he might be hurting, but he wouldn't do anything so rash."

"He did, but fortunately he didn't get his wish," Lucius said. "Instead The Dark Lord gave him the mark."

"Draco's a Death Eater?" Theo gasped. He knew becoming a Death Eater was something Draco had never wanted, so he was concerned how it would affect his friend to have the mark he detested so much.

"For now," Lucius replied.

"What do you mean, for now?" Blaise asked warily.

"I mean, he's still not thinking straight," Lucius answered. "He thinks being a Death Eater is just another way to end his pain. He's hoping the Order take him out the second he faces them in battle."

"We have to stop him," Theo insisted.

"I've spoken to The Dark Lord, and I think I've convinced him to find something off the front line for Draco to do," Lucius said. "But it won't last forever. Before Draco goes into battle, we need to convince him he's still got so much to live for. We need to get through to him before he does something stupid and gets himself killed."

"We'll do all we can, but we're stuck in school for another few months," Blaise said.

"I should be able to keep him side-lined until then," Lucius said. "And hopefully by then, his mother and I will have gotten through to him. But even then, we're going to have to keep reminding him that he's got more to live for than just one witch. We need to keep his hopes alive."

"Don't worry, we'll do everything we can to keep Draco alive," Theo vowed. "He's our best friend, and we will not let anything happen to him."

"You're good friends, and right now that's what Draco needs," Lucius said with a nod. "Come and see him as soon as you can. Right now, I've got to get home."

"Make sure Draco knows we'll be over to see him as soon as school is finished," Blaise said.

"I'll let him know," Lucius promised as he gathered the rest of Draco's things.

Saying their goodbyes, Blaise and Theo slowly left the head dorms and headed back down to the dungeons, each of them struggling to believe that Draco was now a Death Eater. Even so, they vowed to be right at his side as he battled his demons and found a way to live without Hermione. Even if it meant they both signed up to become Death Eaters themselves, they were going to be there for Draco, no matter what it took.

* * *

Since arriving home and not achieving what he'd returned to do, Draco Malfoy, sat brooding in his bedroom. The Dark Mark on his pale forearm burned like hell, and the black markings seemed to mock him every time he looked down at his arm. For years he'd sworn not to get mixed up with Voldemort, and now here he was a fully-fledged Death Eater. The only consolation was that he wasn't going to be a Death Eater for long, in fact he wasn't going to be alive for much longer.

Since being branded with the mark, Draco hadn't left his bedroom at the manor. Both of his parents had visited him and tried to talk to him, but he refused to discuss anything with them. He didn't want to talk about Hermione, and he certainly didn't want to discuss the reason he went to see Voldemort in the first place. He knew his parents were worried about him and his state of mind, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Right now, all he cared about was the fact he'd lost Hermione and without her, nothing seemed important.

Thoughts of Hermione were pretty much what filled Draco's head as he lounged around in his room, waiting for Voldemort to call on him. Instead of trying not to think about his lost love, Draco welcomed the thoughts and he spent hours just sitting remembering their past conversations and time spent together. The only thing he refused to let his mind dwell on was the talks they'd held about the future. He refused to even think about the nights they'd lain in each other's arms in the head dorms, talking about what their future held and what they could do with their lives once Voldemort had been vanquished. Even though Draco was drowning in grief over Hermione, it was still too painful to think about the future he'd lost.

Draco vaguely recalled his father telling him that he would be going up to Hogwarts to let Dumbledore know he was leaving and to gather his belongings, so it wasn't a total shock when Lucius appeared late on Tuesday evening with a couples of boxes holding everything that Draco had left behind when he'd fled Hogwarts.

"Blaise and Theo were asking about you," Lucius said to his son, hoping the mention of his friends would get him talking, but Draco merely grunted in response. "They'll be coming to see you once school finishes."

"There's no need," Draco replied crisply as he got to his feet. "And you can chuck that lot, I don't need it," he added, glaring at the boxes as he strode from the room and into the adjoining bathroom.

Lucius sighed in resignation, but instead of throwing the boxes away, he stowed them in the corner of the room before leaving Draco's room. If Draco wanted to throw them away, that was his business, but Lucius wasn't going to do it for him. He wasn't going to aid his son in his attempt to avoid reality.

When Draco emerged from the bathroom, he was pleased to find his father had left the room, but annoyed to see the boxes were still in the corner of the room. Picking them up, he set off towards the door to get rid of them before suddenly pausing. Looking down into the boxes he suddenly wondered if any of Hermione's things had made their way into the boxes. Or even if they hadn't there would be plenty of his own stuff that held memories of his girlfriend. Suddenly not so sure about getting rid of the boxes, Draco changed his mind and opening the wardrobe he shoved them inside. He wasn't ready to look at the boxes, but maybe in a few days he would feel differently.

Although one thing Draco had decided when he was in the bathroom was that he needed some sort of warning for when people were approaching his room. Technically the whole wing of the house was his, and while he didn't want to keep people out, he thought it could be prudent to set up some sort of ward that alerted him to people's presence. He'd only been home a few days and he'd had constant visits from his parents. In future it would be nice to know when he had company coming his way, especially as right now he wasn't in a socialising mood.

Heading into his own personal library, Draco located some books on wards and set about reading them. For half an hour he studied the various spells he could place around his wing of the manor. Whatever he put up, he wanted to be sure it wouldn't affect the general wards around the house as that would only lead to trouble with Lucius. The studying was enough to give him some answers and once he'd settled on the wards he was going to use, he spent half an hour erecting them. Now he would know the second anyone set foot into his wing of the manor.

Satisfied with his work, Draco returned to his room. However, he'd barely settled down in the chair beside the window when he felt his mark stinging and Voldemort's voice appeared in his head, ordering him to a meeting in Lucius's study. Draco was disconcerted with the fact Voldemort could enter his head, but since he wasn't planning on being around for much longer it wasn't too much trouble. He could deal with Voldemort in his head for a few weeks if it meant he achieved his goal of joining Hermione.

Hoping that Voldemort had his first task for him, and that it was going to be a dangerous one, Draco headed down to his father's study. When he entered the room, his father and Aunt Bellatrix were present alongside The Dark Lord.

"My Lord," Draco said with a respectful bow of his head. Even though he didn't respect the dark wizard in front of him, he knew how to play the part of the loyal Death Eater.

"Nice try, Draco," Voldemort chuckled. "But I know you're not loyal to me just yet. That will change in time, trust me."

"Yes, My Lord," Draco muttered, even though he knew it would never happen as he wouldn't be around long enough for him to truly become a loyal Death Eater.

"Loyal or not, you're still a Death Eater and it's time to test your mettle," Voldemort said. "I've got a job for you. Tomorrow morning you're going to Gringotts with Bella, and she's going to retrieve something from her vault. I want you to take what she gives you, travel to a foreign country and hide it where no-one will ever find it."

Draco nodded, and after receiving a time to meet his aunt the following day, he left his father's study. There might have been a time when he would have asked questions about Voldemort's bizarre task, but not now. He wasn't even curious as to what the dark wizard could be up to. All he knew was that he had his first task from Voldemort, and he was just hoping it would end up being dangerous. After all, what was the point in being a Death Eater if he didn't find himself staring death in the face?


	3. Chapter 3

Pretending Hermione was dead was a lot harder than Harry and Ron had expected. The grief that had swept the school was also a lot more severe than what they'd been expecting as well, which just seemed to put added pressure on them to look even more broken up over Hermione's death. The two boys had prepared themselves for the grief to be strongest in Gryffindor Tower, but they hadn't expected the outpouring of emotion from their three room-mates, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom. Neville especially was torn up about Hermione's death as she was the first friend he'd made at Hogwarts, and over the years she'd been there for him when no-one else was interested.

The other person to take Hermione's death badly was Ginny. Of course, both Harry and Ron suspected Ginny would be heartbroken at the news, as despite them being in different years, Ginny and Hermione had been pretty close. But neither of them were quite prepared for how broken up the red-headed witch was. Ginny was in tears almost all the time, and she clung to Harry and Ron as she thought they were the only people who truly understood how devastated she was by the loss of her friend.

On a more positive note for Harry, Ginny's grief had brought them even closer and they were now a proper couple. Harry had felt slightly guilty for taking advantage of Ginny in her grief, but as Ron pointed out, they would have ended up together sooner or later so there was nothing for him to feel guilty about. As it was, the only reason they weren't already a couple was that Harry had been so caught up in worrying about the threats to Hermione's life. If he hadn't been so preoccupied by his best friend's safety he and Ginny would have acted on their kiss over Christmas several weeks ago.

Following Hermione's death, Harry and Ron had taken some time off from lessons as it was what was expected from them, and it was only when they returned that they'd realised how devastated the entire school was. They weren't sure if it meant Hermione was far more popular than they'd ever realised, or if it was just general sadness that someone so young had lost their life. And of course, Hermione's death had come hot on the heels of what had happened at Hogsmeade. She was the second student to die within a few weeks, not to mention poor Colin Creevey and Professor Flitwick, both of whom were still in hospital.

It was also when the boys returned to lessons that they found that Draco Malfoy was mysteriously missing. Neither of them had noticed at first, but then they'd spotted Ernie Macmillan wearing the Head Boy badge and issuing detentions to some unruly students. The boys knew that Dumbledore had passed the Head Girl's position along to Padma Patil, although she wanted to remain in Ravenclaw Tower, but they hadn't realised he'd also relieved Draco of his duties. It was when they then spoke to Ernie that they discovered that Draco had gone.

"What do you mean gone?" Ron asked the new Head Boy with a frown.

"I mean he's no longer a student at Hogwarts," Ernie replied. "Haven't either of you noticed his absence?"

"We've had other things on our mind," Harry muttered.

"Right, sorry," Ernie said, wincing slightly as he realised he'd put his foot in it. "Anyway, Malfoy's gone so Dumbledore asked if I would take over as Head Boy."

"Are you in the Head Dorms?" Ron asked. Padma may have turned down the chance to move, but he wasn't as sure that Ernie would pass on the opportunity to have private quarters.

"Dumbledore said there was no need since it's only for a few weeks," Ernie answered, clearly annoyed with the headmaster's choice.

Thanking Ernie for his time, Harry and Ron headed off to go and see Dumbledore. There was something strange going on, and they intended to find out what. However, before they made it to Dumbledore's office, they passed the library and spotted a few of Draco's friends sitting at a table near the front of the room.

"What do you think?" Harry asked as he and Ron watched the group that consisted of Blaise Zabini, Theo Nott, Daphne Greengrass and a recently returned from St Mungo's, Pansy Parkinson. "I bet they know what's going on."

"I bet they do," Ron agreed. "But why would they tell us anything?"

"I don't know, but it's worth a try," Harry said as he led the way into the library and over to where the Slytherins were sitting.

Pansy was the first to notice the two Gryffindors and she looked up with a frown. "Can we help?" she snapped.

"We're looking for Malfoy," Harry said.

"As you can see, he's not here," Blaise replied. "We're not hiding him under the table."

"We know he's not here," Ron said. "We also know he's not in school."

"Gee, what gave it away?" Theo muttered sarcastically.

"Where is he?" Harry demanded.

"As you said, not in school," Blaise answered.

"That's all we know," Pansy added.

"Bullshit," Ron snorted. "You know where he is and why he vanished."

"And what if we do?" Blaise asked with a challenging glare. "Just what does it have to do with you two?"

"It has nothing to do with you," Daphne said forcefully. Blaise and Theo had told her and Pansy all about Draco, including where he was and why, and they were both as worried about their friend as the boys. "We're not going to tell you anything, so just go away."

"We will find out the truth," Ron warned.

"Good for you, now bugger off and let us study," Blaise snarled.

Knowing they weren't going to get anything out of the Slytherins, Harry and Ron left the library and made their way to the headmaster's office. Fortunately, Dumbledore was in his office when the pair arrived, and he was more than happy to settle down and talk with the two teenagers. Not wasting any time, Harry immediately asked the headmaster about Draco.

"I have to admit, I'm slightly in the dark where young Mr Malfoy is concerned," Dumbledore confessed. "I didn't even realise he wasn't in the castle until Lucius turned up and informed me that his son was at home and wouldn't be returning."

"When was this?" Harry asked.

"A few days after we moved Hermione," Dumbledore answered. "Tuesday, I think."

"Isn't it strange that he left school days after what happened with Hermione?" Harry questioned.

"It is unusual, yes," Dumbledore agreed with a nod. "But I can't find any connection between the two incidents. If Miss Granger's death were real, I would worry that Mr Malfoy had a hand in it, but as we know it's all false, that can't be the case. It must be pure coincidence that he chose to leave school early."

"He did seem awfully concerned about Hermione when she was in the hospital wing," Ron mused. "Do you think he knew about You-Know-Who's desire to kill her? Maybe he's reporting back to him, and that's why he left. The job was done, and he didn't even have to lift a finger."

"You think he was working for Voldemort and waiting for an opportunity to kill Hermione?" Harry asked his best friend.

"Why not?" Ron replied with a shrug. "We all know Lucius Malfoy may be pretending to be neutral, but his loyalty is truly with the dark. He's just covering his backside in case things go wrong again. It makes sense that his son is with the dark."

"I guess it does," Harry agreed. "But Malfoy's had all year to get to Hermione. They've been sharing dorms, he could have taken her out whenever he wanted."

"Maybe he was just trying to find the right time to make it look like an accident," Ron suggested. "If he just outright killed her, he would be a wanted murderer."

"What do you think?" Harry asked Dumbledore, his head swimming with the possibilities.

"I think Ron could well be on the right track," Dumbledore said quietly. "It's just a whisper I've heard, but according to my sources, the Malfoys are aligning themselves with the dark side. They're going to break their neutral stance."

"That's it then, Malfoy was working for You-Know-Who all along," Ron declared.

"It looks like we made the right decision about Hermione after all," Harry said, shuddering to think about how close they'd come to losing her. "We're just lucky we were able to move before Malfoy worked out a plan and struck."

"We were lucky, weren't we?" Ron asked, suddenly worried that something had gone wrong. "Hermione is safe, isn't she?"

"She's safe," Dumbledore reassured the pair. He hadn't been to see the young witch, but he'd heard from a few people that she was safe, and not taking her imprisonment too well.

"But?" Harry prompted, knowing Dumbledore was keeping something from them.

"But she's very angry," Dumbledore said. "Everyone who's been guarding her have all said the same thing. She's furious, and she's barely speaking to anyone. It's not going to be easy when you go and see her."

"We can cope," Harry said with more confidence than he felt. "It's for her own good, and when we tell her about Malfoy, she'll see that."

"Do you really think telling her about our suspicions is wise?" Dumbledore questioned. "We have no proof Mr Malfoy was up to anything. Given the way Hermione is reacting, telling her what we think might not be the best idea."

"Dumbledore's right," Ron agreed. "If we go around accusing Malfoy without proof, she'll just say we're overreacting or exaggerating again. If she still won't believe You-Know-Who is after her, she won't believe that Malfoy was trying to kill her."

"I guess not," Harry conceded. "It look like we're just going to have to hope that by the time school finishes in a few months, Hermione will have calmed down."

* * *

Hermione's quest to escape had not gotten off to a good start. Following her arrival at the cottage, she'd spent a lot of time prowling the cottage and gardens, looking for an escape route. Sadly it had become clear quite quickly that she couldn't get past the wards Dumbledore had set without her wand. Even with her wand bypassing them would be unlikely, but without her wand it was just hopeless. Not that it stopped Hermione from trying again and again to batter through the wards until she was exhausted.

With escape out of the question, Hermione had even tried pleading with every person she came into contact with, but they were all as bad as each other. Sirius, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks were clearly the most uncomfortable with the situation, but they'd refused to be budged on the matter. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't persuade any of them to let her go or even agree to help her try and find a way out of her prison.

Hermione had hoped to have more luck with Molly Weasley, but if anything she was the most determined of her captors. Molly insisted that they were acting in Hermione's best interests, and nothing could persuade her otherwise. Even Hermione's attempts at emotional blackmail, failed to make any inroads. The fact Molly was a mother herself and was part of putting her parents through untold grief, wasn't enough to convince her that what they were doing to Hermione was wrong. Even when Hermione mentioned Molly's children and the fact she was letting them grieve for her unnecessarily, the red-headed witch had refused to listen to reason. She was convinced she was in the right, and nothing Hermione could say would persuade her otherwise.

At one point Hermione did get her hopes raised, the one and only time Molly's husband, Arthur Weasley was the one at the cottage. Hermione had sensed immediately that Arthur hated what was happening, and within an hour of him arriving at the cottage he'd apologised to Hermione and confided her in that he'd tried to stop the plan for going ahead. Hermione had played nice with Arthur, thanking him for his support, before trying to get him to help her escape. However, just as she seemed to be getting through to Arthur and she was convinced he was going to help her, Molly had arrived and foiled her plans. Spotting what was happening, Molly had sent her husband home and Hermione hadn't seen the wizard since. No doubt Arthur wouldn't be trusted to watch her again.

Following her brief glimmer of hope with Arthur, Hermione's life had fallen into a routine. She would spend her days searching fruitlessly for a way out of the cottage, all while ignoring whatever captor was in residence. By the time Hogwarts finished for the year and Harry and Ron turned up, Hermione hadn't spoken more than the odd grunt to anyone in months.

When Harry and Ron turned up, Hermione let herself believe that they would have come to their senses. She knew from Sirius that both boys had been in on the plan, but she'd hoped months of witnessing just what their plan had done to people would be enough to have them realising the error of their ways. Sadly, Hermione's hopes were short lived as her friend's immediately made it clear that they didn't regret their actions.

"I can't believe you two went along with this," Hermione seethed when Harry and Ron refused to back down. "I thought you were my friends."

"We are your friends," Harry replied gently. He couldn't deny he was hurt by Hermione's hostility, but he knew that they would have to stay calm if they ever wanted Hermione to see that they'd only had her best interests at heart. "That's why we did this. We're saving you from Voldemort."

"I couldn't care less about sodding Voldemort," Hermione screamed. "I'm worried about my parents. Did you ever think about the hell you're putting them through?"

Hermione nearly mentioned Draco, but since her friends didn't know of the relationship she didn't want to complicate matters. When she did escape, there was no way she was allowing Draco to join the Order, not after this. Instead they could just leave, and everyone could sort out their own mess without their help. Of course that would be after they made sure the whole world knew just what the Order were really like.

"I know this seems harsh, but it's necessary," Harry sighed.

"This is not necessary," Hermione spat. "And have you even thought about what happens when you no longer require me to be dead? How are you planning on explaining that I'm still alive?"

"I don't know," Harry confessed, frowning at the flaw in his plan which hadn't been picked up on earlier. "But we'll sort something out when it's safe for you to leave this place."

"We understand you're mad Hermione, but you'll thank us when you survive the war," Ron added, offering Hermione a small smile.

"I will never thank you for this," Hermione replied in a cold voice. She could see now that no amount of talking would bring Harry and Ron around, she was truly on her own and if she was going to escape it would have to be by herself and on her own terms. She couldn't rely on anyone else for help, as clearly she wasn't getting any. "I will hate you for the rest of my life. And when I get out of here, I will make you pay for what you've done to me."

"Don't be so ridiculous, Hermione," Harry scoffed, not taking Hermione seriously due to her anger. "I know you're upset now, but you'll come round and see we've made the right decision."

"No, I won't," Hermione answered flatly. "What I'm going to do is get the hell away from you lot. I promise I will escape this place, and everyone will find out exactly what sort of people the Order really are."

"If you could have escaped, you would have done it before now," Ron pointed out. Like Harry, he wasn't too fazed by Hermione's attitude, as he knew it was all just anger and like Harry he was hoping that when she calmed down she would see sense and understand why they'd taken the drastic action of faking her death. "Face it Hermione, you're stuck here. You might as well just accept it."

"Never," Hermione snarled, before turning on her heel and stalking back to her room.

Unfortunately she knew Ron was right about one thing, if she could have escaped, she would have. She was stuck here, and for the time being she could see no way out. She would have to hope that she could find a weakness to exploit, and that one day she would escape. She just had to escape, every day she was stuck with the Order was a day her parents and Draco were suffering, and she was desperate to alleviate that suffering. Her parents and boyfriend didn't deserve to be grieving for her, and Hermione promised herself that she would do everything in her power to ensure their grief was short lived. She just hoped that nothing too bad had happened to them before she got a chance to find them and show them that she was still alive.


	4. Chapter 4

For the Slytherins their last few months of school seemed to drag over as they were weighed down with concern over Draco. They'd all tried writing to their friend to see if he was okay, but not one of them got a response from Draco. All they had to reassure them he was still alive was the bits of information Professor Snape could pass their way. Not that Snape was in a position to be telling them much, but he kept assuring them that Draco was alive.

Even with Snape's reassurances the Slytherins couldn't really believe Draco was okay until they saw him with their own eyes. Fortunately the end of year finally arrived and not only were they free to see Draco, but they were free from Hogwarts completely. On the train ride back home the group made plans to visit Draco, and even though everyone was keen to see him, they decided it would be best not to all visit at once. After much discussion it was decided that Blaise and Theo would visit Draco first, and they could then fill their friends in on how the blond wizard was doing before they also tried to see him.

Blaise and Theo had decided they would visit Draco the day after they arrived home, so on the morning they met up at Theo's house to discuss how to approach their friend. In private the two wizards had been talking and they'd both agreed that in order to help Draco they would do whatever it took, even if it meant joining him as a Death Eater.

"You don't have to do this, Theo," Blaise said as they prepared to floo to Malfoy Manor and visit their friend. While he personally had no connections to the dark, his knew Theo's father was a former supporter of The Dark Lord and had so far remained neutral in the war. However, Theo joining the Death Eaters would likely change all that.

"I do," Theo said firmly. "Draco is my friend, and I need to be there for him. I really hope we don't have to do it, but if we have to, I'll take the mark for my friend."

"Let's hope these last few months have given him time to come to his senses," Blaise said hopefully. "Maybe things won't be as bad as we've been fearing."

Suspecting that Blaise's optimism was misplaced, the boys grabbed some floo powder and travelled to their best friend's childhood home. The pair emerged in a room designed for visitors arriving at the manor via floo, and immediately an elf appeared and welcomed them. Being regular visitors to the manor, Blaise and Theo greeted the elf by name and asked if Draco was around. The elf didn't seem too sure, but he rushed off to find Lucius instead. A few minutes later, Lucius strolled into the room and greeted his son's friends with a tense smile.

"I take it things are no better with Draco," Blaise said with a sigh as he took in Lucius's demeanour.

"They're just the same," Lucius confirmed. "Nothing seems to get through to him. He's locked in his own private world of grief, and nothing his mother or I say reaches him. Maybe you two will have more luck."

"We'll certainly try," Blaise replied. "Is he in?"

"In his private wing," Lucius answered. "Although he's set up wards so he knows when people enter his wing of the manor, so don't be too surprised if he takes off before you reach him. If that happens, I suggest waiting around for him. He always comes back eventually."

"What sort of physical state is he in?" Theo asked. "Has he seen any fighting?"

"Not yet, but it's only a matter of time," Lucius replied with a long, drawn out sigh. "He's done a couple of small jobs for The Dark Lord, but now Potter is out of school I know things are going to move along. Draco will see his first battle sooner rather than later. I just hope he survives it."

"Don't we all," Blaise muttered as he and Theo headed off to see if they could find Draco.

When they entered Draco's wing of the manor they had no idea if their friend had left or not when he knew they were coming, so they headed to the library where they knew he spent most of his time when he was home. Finding no sign of Draco in the library, they checked his bedroom and then every other room in the wing.

"Dammit he's gone," Theo cursed as they returned to the library not having found Draco.

"So we wait," Blaise said, settling down on a chair beside the unlit fire.

Theo also settled himself down and the two wizards prepared themselves for a long wait for their elusive friend. However, they'd only been in the manor a little over an hour when the door to the library flew open and an annoyed looking Draco marched in, demanding to know what they were doing. Both Blaise and Theo ignored Draco's grouchiness and really looked at their friend, easily seeing the haunted look in his eyes and the grief hidden behind a mask of anger.

"Hello to you too, Draco," Blaise greeted cheerily. "I take it you haven't missed us."

"I haven't had time," Draco muttered as he slid into an empty chair and summoned three glasses of firewhisky.

"You've been busy then," Theo remarked, wondering just what Draco had been up to since they'd last seen him.

"Not really," Draco replied with a shrug.

"You don't have to lie to us, Draco," Blaise said. "We know everything. We know you were with Granger before she died, and we know you went to The Dark Lord looking for a way out."

"Father has been busy gossiping," Draco drawled.

"He wasn't gossiping, he was concerned," Theo said. "We're all concerned, Draco. We understand you loved Granger, but you still have so much to live for."

"You understand nothing," Draco spat, genuine anger flaring up in his grey eyes. "I didn't just lose the love of my life when Hermione died, I lost my entire future. Without her, I have no life."

"That's not true," Blaise argued. "You're surrounded by people who love you. I won't try and understand the pain you're going through in losing someone you loved, because I can't understand it as I've never been through it. But I can promise you that you're not alone."

"No-one else matters," Draco muttered.

"What about Granger? She clearly mattered to you, so why are you doing this to her?" Theo asked.

"I'm not doing anything to her, she's dead," Draco snarled.

"I know," Theo said softly. "But do you really think she would want this for you? If she loved you the way you clearly loved her, she wouldn't want this. If she was here, she would say the same thing."

"If she was here none of this would be happening," Draco said with a bitter laugh as he drowned the last of his glass of firewhisky and slammed the empty glass on the table in front of him. "And don't you dare tell me what Hermione would have wanted, because you didn't know her."

"We didn't, and we're sorry we never got that chance," Blaise said. "But we do know you, Draco, and we know this isn't you. You've let the grief take over and you're not thinking straight."

"I'm thinking just fine," Draco said as he jumped to his feet. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like you to leave. And don't bother coming back because I don't want visitors."

"Tough, because we're not abandoning you," Blaise said with a shrug. "In fact, we'll soon be joining you."

"Joining me?" Draco frowned.

"As Death Eaters," Theo supplied. "We're going to ask to join you. We'll soon be at your side all the time."

"No," Draco snarled. "You can't do that."

"It's our lives and we can do what we want, Draco," Blaise said serenely.

"Fine, mess your lives up, see if I care," Draco sneered. "But don't say I didn't warn you. The Dark Lord won't win you know. Potter and the Order will defeat him, and if you're in his ranks you'll either be killed or sent to Azkaban for the rest of your lives."

"The same holds true for you, Draco," Theo said quietly. "You've joined what you clearly think is a losing cause."

"The difference is I won't be around by the end of the war," Draco retorted. "If Father told you everything, then you know I didn't sign up for this. This wasn't the result I wanted, but I can still use it to fulfil my aims."

"We won't let you kill yourself, Draco," Blaise vowed.

"You can't stop me," Draco replied with a shrug.

"Watch us," Theo warned as he rose to his feet and gave Draco a challenging glare. "Although deep down I don't think you even want to die."

"You know nothing about what I want," Draco snorted.

"I know if you truly wanted to die, you would have done so already," Theo said quietly, hoping that what he was about to say wouldn't push Draco over the edge. "Granger's been dead for months. If you wanted to join her you could have already done so. You have a wand don't you, and I'm sure you know the killing curse."

Draco glared angrily at Theo, his hands curling up into fists. Blaise jumped to his feet, ready to get in-between his two friends, but Draco just shook his head and turned away.

"Go away," he whispered quietly, before striding from the room without looking back.

"Bloody hell," Theo gasped, collapsing back into his chair. "I can't believe I just said that. What if I've messed up, Blaise? What if Draco now kills himself?"

"He won't," Blaise said confidently. "You didn't say anything that wouldn't have already occurred to him. He might not care if he lives or dies, but he's not totally suicidal."

"You hope," Theo muttered.

"I know," Blaise replied. "Don't beat yourself up Theo. Draco will be fine. It's buried deep, but he still cares about other people."

"How do you figure that?" Theo snorted. "Draco can often be self-centred, but even by his standards, he was pretty closed off just there. From what I saw he's only interested in himself."

"No, he was also trying to protect us," Blaise said. "He doesn't want us joining the Death Eaters, not because he doesn't want us around, but because of what could happen at the end of the war. He's trying to protect us, Theo."

Theo nodded, accepting that Blaise might have a point. "So does that mean we're not joining up?"

"Not yet," Blaise said. "Draco's right about the trouble we could be in at the end of the war. Let's give Draco some time and see what happens. We'll join up if we have to, but hopefully it might not come to that. I don't believe we've truly lost Draco yet. Somewhere buried inside all his anger and grief, is still the same guy we've always known. We've just got to help him find himself again, and show him that there's more to live for than Hermione Granger."

* * *

Draco had hoped for some dangerous Death Eater action rather quickly, but he was sorely disappointed. His very first task had him accompanying his aunt to Gringotts, where she'd given him a silver cup so he could follow out Voldemort's orders. Just as Voldemort asked, Draco took to the cup to a foreign country, he chose France, and hid it. Draco had hidden the cup in a cave on a beach he used to play on as a child, which was located not far from where the Malfoys had a villa. He was certain that unless anyone knew it was there, the cup wouldn't be found.

Draco had hoped his first successful task would lead to him seeing some action, but all Voldemort did was thank him for his service. A few weeks later he then summoned Draco to him once more and gave him an old fashioned brooch to hide somewhere different to the cup. Fulfilling orders, Draco had taken the brooch to Ireland and hidden it in a false book in a house that belonged to a distant Black relative. What the two items meant to Voldemort, and why he wanted them hidden was a mystery to Draco, but it was a mystery that didn't intrigue him at all. All he wanted was to fight and to end the pain he was in.

When Draco's friends paid him a visit upon leaving Hogwarts, he was momentarily swayed by Theo's words, and he'd spent the rest of the day wondering if he was in fact ready to die. However, the thought of living without Hermione was too painful, and even though he knew he would never have the courage to take his own life, he wouldn't be upset if his life was ended by someone else. The truth was, live or die, Draco didn't really care, all he truly wanted was for the pain he was in to end.

Finally, a little over a week after Blaise and Theo's visit, Draco was summoned to Voldemort and handed a silver mask and a set of Death Eater robes. Voldemort announced he was attacking a small wizarding village on the south coast, and he wanted Draco to be part of the attack. Hoping that things were finally looking up, Draco pulled on the robes and mask and he headed off with the other Death Eaters.

Draco had never really been in a proper fight before, but when he arrived at the small village Voldemort wanted attacking, he let his mind go blank and he just did what came naturally when Voldemort launched the attack. Not caring about what curses flew out of his wand, Draco cast spell after spell as he waited for the destruction the Death Eaters were causing to bring forth the Order. Within a few minutes the villagers were fighting, but quickly enough reinforcements arrived and Draco found himself in the midst of a proper fight.

For the first time since Hermione had died, Draco felt alive as he threw curses and hexes in abandon, not caring who they hit or what damage they caused. He also wasn't worried about himself and he didn't dodge any curse that came his way. As a result he lost his mask early on the battle and his hood fell down, revealing his identity to the enemy. Draco hoped it would make him more of a target and he certainly wasn't disappointed when even more curses flew in his direction.

The first curse to do any damage to Draco cut open his left shoulder, and even with blood running from his arm, Draco continued to fight. The only spell he didn't cast was the killing curse, but he was still causing plenty of damage to the opposition with the curses he was using. The deep cut on his shoulder were joined by smaller cuts on his leg, arm and torso, but nothing was so serious that he had to stop fighting.

By the time the battle had been going an hour, Draco was rather battered and bruised, but he was still on his feet. It was then that he spotted Potter and Weasley, and he smirked when the pair got their eyes on him. Throwing curses in their direction, he waited for their retaliation and he grinned when a blot of blue light left Harry's wand and came flying in his direction. The second the spell hit him, Draco was blasted backwards and as he lay on the ground, his right ankle throbbing painfully as a piece of bone stuck through his pale skin, he waited for a further attack that never came. Slowly pulling himself to a sitting position, he searched for his former school mates, but saw no sign of them in the diminishing chaos. Either they thought they'd killed him, or else they figured he wasn't worth bothering with.

Growling in frustration, Draco dragged himself to his feet. However, the second he put any weight on his ankle he fell back down, spotting the bone protruding from it for the first time. Cursing at the fact he was just in pain, and nowhere near death, Draco looked around to see that other Death Eaters were leaving the scene. Raising his own wand, Draco vanished with a pop and landed in his bedroom.

The apparition had not done his ankle any good and without thinking Draco let out a loud howl of pain as he collapsed on the floor in his bedroom. The cry brought one of the elves to his room, and upon seeing the state of him, the elf rushed off for Narcissa. When Narcissa entered his room she cried out at the state of her only son, and although Draco said he didn't need her, she refused to leave.

"I can't believe you've done this," Narcissa said tightly as she used all her magical expertise to fix Draco's broken ankle.

"These injurers aren't self-inflicted," Draco snorted.

"No, they're from you not caring what happens to you," Narcissa retorted sharply. "Honestly Draco, you're not the only one affected by this. Do you not care what you're doing to me? Do you not care how heart-breaking it is for me to see you in so much pain?"

"My intention was never to hurt you," Draco replied honestly, feeling guilty for the first time as he thought about what his parents were going through.

"But you're not going to stop, are you?" Narcissa whispered, blinking back the tears that were pooling in her eyes.

"I can't," Draco replied as he hobbled towards the bathroom to clean himself up. "I'm sorry mother, but I won't make any effort to save myself. If I live, I live, but if I die then so be it."

Aware that his words had reduced his mother to tears, Draco stumbled into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He then set about cleaning himself up the best he could, all the time thinking about his next battle. Losing his mask in battle was a good strategy and he knew it would make him a target. He'd been lucky today that no-one had cast the killing curse his way, but his luck wouldn't hold and if he continued to fight without a mask he was sure that sooner or later one of the Order would take him out.


	5. Chapter 5

After his mysterious disappearance from Hogwarts, Harry and Ron had been convinced that Draco was dark and had been working for Voldemort, and the first few weeks after they'd left school only confirmed their theory. Twice within a month of them leaving Hogwarts they fought the Death Eaters and both times Draco was present. Both times he also fought without his mask and he was brutal in his destruction. Harry had come face to face with him on one occasion and even he'd been shocked at the lack of emotion in the blond wizard's eyes. It was as though he was dead inside, and in Harry's opinion that made him a dangerous enemy.

Aside from dealing with the Draco situation, Harry and Ron's attention had been on Hermione. They hadn't visited her since their first visit, but they knew from the others that she was still angry and unresponsive to reason. Both boys had hoped their friend would have calmed down and started to see reason before they saw her again, but necessity dictated that they didn't have time for her to cool down properly before paying their second visit to their friend.

Upon leaving Hogwarts, Dumbledore had confided in both Harry and Ron about the troubles he was having locating one of the Horcruxes. According to his reckoning he was two Horcruxes missing, and he was almost sure one of them was Voldemort's snake, Nagini. Nagini was going to be the hardest one to destroy, so Dumbledore had been focusing on the other missing Horcrux. However, while he'd managed to find out what the Horcrux was, he had no idea where it was currently located. He'd asked the boys to help him, but since neither of them were any good at tedious research they'd decided to ask Hermione for help. They were hoping that including her would help her see that she was still important to them. Unfortunately for Harry and Ron, Hermione didn't see it that way and she laughed in their faces when they asked for her help.

"You can't really be serious?" Hermione snorted. "You expect me to help you after everything you've done."

"We know you're still mad, Hermione, but you don't want Voldemort to win this war any more than we do," Harry said.

"Who says? I might think him winningly is preferable to you lot," Hermione replied with a shrug. "After all, I've learnt you're all as bad as each other."

"We are not like Voldemort and his Death Eaters," Harry hissed. "Everything we've done has been for you and your safety."

"You keep telling yourself that Harry, and maybe one day you might actually believe it," Hermione replied. "Because I refuse to believe the boy I've been friends with for seven years would honestly believe that what's happened to me isn't evil. If the dark had done this, you'd be calling them all sorts and trying to fix it."

"We know what we did was extreme," Harry said in a placating tone of voice.

"Extreme?" Hermione interrupted with a yell. "This is not extreme, Harry, it's downright cruel. You've faked my death and aside from a handful of people everyone thinks I'm dead. People are mourning me, and you don't seem to care."

"Of course we care," Ron said fiercely. "We don't want people to suffer, but it was the only way. And if you help us we can end this sooner rather than later. The second we defeat You-Know-Who you can return to your old life."

"Surely you don't believe it'll be that simple," Hermione scoffed with a shake of her head. "There is no going back now. You've made a huge mistake and there's going to be consequences to your actions. It doesn't matter if you defeat Voldemort, you're still going to have to explain why you faked my death and kept me a prisoner. Do you honestly think you'll still end up looking like heroes? Everyone will hate you, and the whole world will find out just what the Order is made of."

"We'll be able to explain," Ron offered weakly.

"Good luck with that," Hermione snorted. "How are you going to explain your actions to other people, when you can't even get me to forgive you? Who's going to support you when I'm leading the charge to have you arrested for your crimes?"

"Arrested?" Ron repeated, his eyes widening with shock as he turned to find Harry wearing a similar expression on his face.

"I warned you, I wasn't going to let you get away with this," Hermione said. "The second I get out of here, I'm going to make you all pay for what you've done to me and the people I love. I will not rest until everyone involved in this despicable plot is rotting in Azkaban."

"That will never happen unless you help us," Harry said shakily. He had no doubt that Hermione meant every word she said, and he was just hoping that they could get through to her before they released her or else winning was war would bring with it dark times for the Order. "We need your help Hermione. Until we defeat Voldemort you're stuck here, and we're at a loss as to how to do that. Please help us, Hermione."

"What do you want me to do?" Hermione asked, unable to hide her curiosity any more. It made her sick to even contemplate helping the Order, but if helping them was the only way to free herself then she would swallow her pride and do what was necessary to get her life back.

"We're trying to track down Voldemort's last hidden Horcrux," Harry explained, handing Hermione a thick file. "It's a silver cup that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. We're almost certain it's what we're looking for, but we have no idea where it is. Dumbledore had notes on everything he's found, but the trails cold. Until we can find it all we can do is fight and keep the Death Eaters at bay."

"How am I supposed to locate a cup while I'm stuck in this place?" Hermione asked, holding the file but refusing to look at it in Harry and Ron's presence.

"If anyone can do it, you can," Harry said encouragingly. "If you agree to help us, Dumbledore will have several boxes of documents and old papers shipped over to you. If you need anything else, all you have to do is ask."

"I take it my freedom isn't among the things I can ask for," Hermione muttered.

"Please Hermione, do this for all of our sakes," Harry begged, ignoring Hermione's last remark. "As much as you hate us right now, I know you hate Voldemort and everything he stands for more. Please do the right thing and help us."

"You're lucky I'm such a good person, Harry," Hermione said as she rose to her feet. "I will do the right thing, and I will help you find the cup. But don't think this changes anything. I still hate you all with a burning passion, and I will get you all back for what you've done to me if it's the last thing I do."

Before Harry or Ron had a chance to reply, Hermione swept from the room and headed back to her bedroom. Leaving Harry and Ron to sort out the rest of the things she would need for her research, and to worry about what she had in store for them, Hermione settled down on her bed and opened the file she'd received off Harry.

It really did make her blood boil to think she was even considering helping the people who had imprisoned her, but she was smart enough to know it might very well be her only way out of the hell she was trapped in. By Hermione's reckoning she'd been trapped for going on six months, and she was still no nearer to escaping than the day she arrived. Try as she might, Hermione was at a loss as to how to escape, so as unpleasant as the thought of working with the Order was she would do it if it helped her regain her freedom. Of course the Order might just end up regretting asking her for help, as when she'd finished helping them bring Voldemort down, she would turn her attention to them and she would make them pay for what they'd done to her.

* * *

Several miles away from where Hermione was being held prisoner, Lucius was sitting in the dark corner of a dingy pub named The Half-Giant. After Draco had ended up becoming a Death Eater the Malfoys neutral stance had been abandoned and Lucius had thrown himself back in with The Dark Lord. Voldemort had been thrilled to have the Malfoys back on board and he'd immediately asked Lucius to see if he could find a contact within the Order. Of course they already had Severus Snape acting as a spy, but as both Lucius and Voldemort were aware, he wasn't totally trusted by the majority of the Order. As such, people were careful what they said around him, and Voldemort was convinced that they were missing potentially vital information because of it.

Lucius had instantly set about fulfilling the task Voldemort had set him, and within weeks of re-pledging his allegiance to the dark he had Mundungus Fletcher in his pocket. Mundungus wasn't the most prolific member of the Order, but he was a natural eavesdropper and liked to lurk, meaning he often saw and heard things he wasn't meant to. It made him perfect for Lucius's purposes, and his devious nature meant he wasn't opposed to betraying the Order when Lucius had turned the thumbscrews. Of course it helped that Lucius was also paying Mundungus, and if the petty thief was careful with his money he would build himself a decent nest egg for the future.

The only down side was that so far Mundungus hadn't been of much help to Lucius. He'd passed on plenty of juicy titbits, but it was either something they already knew from Severus or something that didn't really do them any good. Lucius was hoping this meeting would be better, and he was just hoping that Mundungus wasn't going to be too late when a familiar figure entered the pub through the side door. Lucius remained seated as Mundungus looked around warily, before scurrying over to him and sliding into the booth opposite the blond wizard.

"You're late," Lucius stated sharply.

"It's not easy getting away," Mundungus retorted.

"We both know you can slip away as easy as you like," Lucius remarked. "Rats like you tend to scuttle about unnoticed."

"There's no need for insults," Mundungus grumbled.

"What do you have for me?" Lucius asked, ignoring Mundungus's complaints.

"Not a lot," Mundungus said with a shrug, before sharing a few titbits with the Death Eater, including some tension he'd picked up on between Molly and Arthur Weasley.

"I am not interested in Arthur Weasley's marital woes," Lucius snarled, annoyed that yet again Mundungus wasn't giving him anything useful. "Please say you've got something more interesting than Weasley's marital strife to report."

"There was one other thing, something strange," Mundungus admitted as a slow, devious smirk crept over his face.

"Spit it out Fletcher," Lucius snarled when the other wizard stopped talking. Instinct told him Mundungus was finally going to deliver him something useful, but he didn't appreciate the dramatics. "I haven't got all day."

"I overheard Sirius Black and Remus Lupin talking the other day, and they were talking about a prisoner."

"A prisoner?" Lucius frowned, not recalling any missing Death Eaters. "Are you sure they said prisoner?"

"No, they never actually said the word prisoner," Mundungus admitted. "But they were talking about guard duty and how hard they were finding it."

"That's it?" Lucius questioned, feeling slightly deflated as Mundungus's news hadn't been as good as he'd hoped.

"Is that not enough?" Mundungus questioned with a frown. "Personally, I find it rather intriguing that Sirius and Remus have a prisoner. And it's clearly a secret as it's never been mentioned at a full Order meeting. Nor have I heard anyone else gossiping about it. It's either just the two of them up to something, or there's a small group involved."

"I guess it is a bit fishy," Lucius admitted. "See what else you can find out, Fletcher. I want to know more about this prisoner and who else knows about them."

"Will do Lucius," Mundungus replied. "Although all this sneaking around is thirsty work."

Rolling his eyes at the other wizard, Lucius threw a bag of coins down on the table. "Buy yourself a bottle of firewhisky, Fletcher."

Arranging a meeting for the following week, Lucius stalked from the pub and headed home. He decided not to tell Voldemort about Mundungus's information until he had more to tell. Right now all he knew was that two members of the Order seemed to be guarding someone. It might prove useful to the dark, but then again it could be nothing. Lucius wanted more information before he went to Voldemort, but he had no idea that when he did go to The Dark Lord he would set in motion a chain of events that would change everything and rock the entire wizarding world to its foundations.


	6. Chapter 6

Stepping out of the shower, Draco walked naked to the full length mirror in his bedroom and stood before it. Idly he examined his body and the bruising and scarring it had endured over the last couple of months. Draco had been part of the fighting all summer, and there'd been plenty of it as Voldemort was keen to move things along and try to end the lives of Harry and Dumbledore. Most of Draco's bruising had faded, but he knew events of the summer had left him with three permanent scars. The first was on his shoulder, which he'd sustained in his first fight, and they'd been joined by a gash on his right thigh which had caused him to limp for days, and the most recent one was down his left side.

Although the scars weren't the only things Draco had achieved during his time as a Death Eater. Even though he'd only been in the action for a matter of weeks, he'd already earned himself a reputation both with the Order and his fellow Death Eaters. Since he had no regard for himself or his own safety, he had even less for anyone else's, and that made him a dangerous opponent. It also made him a dangerous person to get on the wrong side of, as Marcus Flint had discovered when he'd snapped at Draco during a battle and then when he'd fallen seriously injured, Draco had merely stepped over him and left him where he lay. Another time he'd cursed Amycus Carrow before a Death Eater meeting when the older wizard had annoyed him.

During battles the killing curse had still not left his wand, but he had taken his first life just a couple of fights ago, or at least it was the first death Draco knew for sure had been caused by him. Truth be told, Draco had no idea what became of the people he encountered in battles, and quite honestly he couldn't care less. But a couple of weeks ago he'd been at an attack and found himself battling Percy Weasley. Straight away it was clear that Percy was a good wizard, but fighting wasn't his forte and it didn't take long for Draco to get the upper hand in their battle. During their fight, he'd sent Percy flying into a wall, and he'd hit it with such force his skull cracked upon contact and he was dead before his body even slumped to the ground.

Draco hadn't been sure how taking a life would affect him, but he found that it had changed nothing. He barely felt anything when he'd stood over Percy's dead body, knowing he was the reason he was gone. If he hadn't been sure before that Hermione's death had destroyed him that incident alone would have convinced him that part of him died along with his girlfriend. The part of him that felt remorse and cared for other people had been lost, and Draco knew it would never come back. Hermione's death had frozen his heart, and nothing could thaw it. Not even his love for his parents was enough to snap him out of his depression and get him to value his life again. Draco had reached the end of the road, he'd had enough and all he wanted was for the pain to end.

Unfortunately for Draco, his pain was still going on as despite the bruising and scarring, he was still standing. Even making sure he removed his mask as he went into battle, which should have made him a target, hadn't seemed to have worked. It was true that without his mask the Order knew who they were fighting and several times they'd tried to target him, but nothing seemed to work. Draco almost felt as though he was invincible, and while at any other time he might have loved the feeling, right now it felt like a curse and he would give anything for something to finally reach him and bring him down.

Belatedly noticing that he was getting cold, Draco stepped away from the mirror and began to get dressed. Just as he was pulling his shirt on, Voldemort's voice sounded in his head, ordering him to be downstairs in two minutes. Fully expecting another attack to be taking place, Draco slipped into his black robes but deliberately left his mask behind. He'd already lost a couple of masks in the heat of battle, and although Voldemort had replaced them, he'd former no attachment to his mask as he knew other Death Eaters had done.

"Lost another mask I see, Draco," Bellatrix remarked when Draco reached the front hallway.

"It's not lost," Draco answered with a shrug. He wasn't sure why his aunt was concerned as he'd never seen her wear a mask in battle, like him she seemed to like the opposition knowing who they were facing.

"The masks are supposed to help protect you, Draco," Bellatrix said.

"I don't need protecting," Draco snorted. "Now are we going or not?"

"We're waiting for your father," Bellatrix replied, just as Lucius and Voldemort appeared coming from the direction of Lucius's study.

Lucius was carrying his mask in his hand, and he slipped it on as they prepared to leave. Voldemort gave Draco the address of where they were going, before he pulled out a mask of his own and slipped it on. He then led the group away from the manor, where they met up with the other Death Eaters on a hill overlooking a bizarre house which looked to be teetering to one side.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you The Burrow," Voldemort called. "Home to the Weasleys, one of the most influential families in the Order. I'm in no mood for prisoners, so do your worst."

The end of Voldemort's speech was the cue to attack and Draco joined the other Death Eaters in running down the hill towards The Burrow. As they reached the gardens of the house, the doors and windows flew open and spells came flying the Death Eaters way. Either the Weasleys and the Order had been waiting for an attack, or they'd attacked on an evening when more than just the family of redheads were home. Not that Draco cared either way as he shot a burning hex at an open window and heard a cry as it hit someone in the shoulder.

Losing himself in battle, Draco found himself hit with a spell that sliced his already scarred shoulder open within the first half hour. As painful as it was, it wasn't enough to bring him down and he continued to wreak havoc as he pushed him way into The Burrow along with several other Death Eaters. By this time it was clear most of the Order had appeared, but Draco wasn't bothered about how many people they were fighting. He was just hoping one of them would finally do something right and end his life once and for all.

After rampaging through The Burrow, Draco found himself emerging from the front door. The second he did so, he found himself set up by Ron Weasley. Draco had seen both Harry and Ron in battle on numerous occasions, but he'd never fought them one on one. As such he was unprepared for the rush of anger he felt when faced with Ron. He'd never really given much thought to the fact Hermione had been with her best friends when she was killed, but with Ron right in front of him, it was all Draco could think about. All he could focus on was that Ron and Harry should have protected Hermione, but they didn't and he'd lost the love of his life due to their incompetence.

With a guttural roar of anger and pain, Draco flew at Ron and the pair began to trade hexes and spells as well as physical blows. If he'd been thinking clearly, Draco might have been surprised by how well Ron fought, both magical and physical, but his anger and pain overwhelmed him and he lost himself in the blood-lust of the battle. Eventually Draco's anger began to pay off and his desire for revenge gave him an advantage over Ron as the redhead began to tire. Spurred on by thoughts of Hermione, Draco sent his fist crashing into Ron's face, before following it up with a swift knee to his groin. Ron went tumbling down to the floor, his wand skittering out of his hand and skidding to a stop nearby.

"Pathetic," Draco sneered, looking down at Ron with contempt.

With a small groan of pain, Ron rolled over onto his stomach as his fingers reached for his wand. Draco waited until Ron's fingers had almost closed over his wand before he raised his foot and brought it down heavily on the back of Ron's knee. The bone in Ron's knee audibly cracked as it broke, but the sound was quickly drowned out by Ron's howl of agony. Stepping off Ron, Draco casually stepped over him and kicking the red-head's wand away, he strode off, leaving Ron whimpering and crying in pain behind him.

Shortly after his altercation with Ron, Voldemort sounded the call to leave. Yet again, Draco left a battle still standing, although he did feel better that he'd elicited some revenge for Hermione. He ignored the tiny voice in his head that told him she wouldn't want revenge, and she would be horrified with what he was becoming, instead focusing on the first positive thought he'd had since her death. For the first time since losing Hermione, Draco wasn't overcome with grief and he had to admit it had felt good to lay into Ron. Not that it changed anything in Draco's mind, Hermione was still gone and without her he didn't want to live.

When he arrived back home, Draco immediately sensed there was someone in his wing of the manor. Expecting it was just his mother had come to check on him, he got a shock when he found Blaise and Theo lounging around in his library as if they owned the place.

"What are you doing here?" Draco demanded harshly.

"We've come to take you out for the evening," Blaise replied, smiling despite Draco's less than welcoming attitude.

"And we're not taking no for an answer," Theo said, jumping in before Draco could even open his mouth to argue.

"Tough, because my answer is no," Draco retorted.

"Don't make us force you, Draco, because we will if we have to," Blaise warned.

"I'd like to see your try," Draco snorted. "Now bugger off and leave me alone."

Not bothering to wait and see if his friends did as he ordered, Draco turned around and strode back to his bedroom. Pulling off his robes, he yanked off the rest of his clothes and headed into the bathroom to clean himself up. When he re-emerged, wearing just his trousers, Blaise and Theo were sitting on his bed.

"I thought I told you to leave," Draco said through clenched teeth as he pulled on a fresh shirt, aware that both Blaise and Theo were openly eyeing up the two scars that was visible on his torso, not to mention the cuts and bruises he was sporting following his spat with Ron.

"And we told you that we're not taking no for an answer," Blaise repeated. "All you have to do to get rid of us is come and have one drink with us, Draco."

"One drink and then I'm done," Draco said with a sigh, recognising that Blaise was in one of his stubborn moods and wouldn't budge until he got his own way.

"Excellent, I know this perfect little bar just opened in Manchester," Blaise said.

Reminding Blaise and Theo that he was merely going to have one drink with them, Draco accompanied them out of the manor and to the bar that Blaise recommended. The bar was a fairly decent place and in a better mood, Draco might have enjoyed it. However, he had no enthusiasm as he found a table with Theo while Blaise went to grab the drinks.

"The waitresses here are so hot, and they're all so obliging," Blaise announced as he returned to the table with three glasses of firewhisky.

"I said I would have a drink, I'm not interested in girls," Draco warned as he picked up his glass.

"I wasn't implying that you asked one of them to marry you," Blaise remarked with a snort. "But Granger's been gone for months now, and you have to move on."

"I have no intention of moving on," Draco grumbled.

"What about sex?" Theo asked.

"What about it?" Draco questioned with a confused frown.

"Don't you miss it?" Blaise inquired. "I mean, you must be sick of taking care of yourself by now."

"Just because all you two think about is sex, doesn't mean we all do," Draco snapped as he drowned the rest of his drink and headed off to the bar for another one. He might have agreed to one drink, but suddenly he was eager to get totally and utterly drunk.

Of course it hadn't helped that Blaise and Theo had struck a nerve with Draco. It was very easy for Draco to focus on the love he'd lost when he'd lost Hermione, but he'd also lost his lover. Before Hermione's death his sex life had been sizzling, and just because she was no longer with him didn't mean his sexual urges had faded. Draco just had to close his eyes to remember what Hermione looked like naked, and how it felt to be with her. Of course without her, he'd had to take care of his own sexual needs over the last few months, but thanks to Blaise and Theo he was suddenly craving more. He knew he couldn't have Hermione, but he wanted a real live witch to help ease his sexual frustration.

Several drinks later and Draco had decided that Blaise was right about the waitresses in the bar. Several of them were very attractive, and more than one had tried to flirt with him. Focusing in on a brunette waitress, Draco blatantly propositioned her. Even though the waitress initially turned him down, it didn't take long for Draco to change her mind and when she'd finished her shift the pair found themselves in the alley behind the bar.

Draco wasn't even sure if names were exchanged as they pounced on one another the second they reached the alley. The waitresses' hands were all over his body, but he merely slid his hands under her short skirt and pulled down her silky knickers. Within minutes of them arriving in the alley, Draco was inside the waitress and he was roughly taking her up against the wall. In his lust filled haze, he didn't have a clue if she'd enjoyed herself, all he was focused on was his own pleasure. When it did hit him, Draco's mind wasn't on the witch he was with, images of Hermione filled his mind and he was fairly sure it was her name that fell from his lips as he came.

Almost the second he pulled away from the waitress, Draco felt disgusted with himself for giving into his urges. Cursing Blaise and Theo for dragging him out and tempting him, Draco didn't even bother to return to the bar before he headed home to try and forget the night had ever happened. What he didn't realise was that while he'd gone home disgusted with himself, Blaise and Theo were thrilled with their evenings work as when their friend hadn't returned they thought he'd gone home with the brunette waitress. They honestly thought they'd finally gotten through to Draco and he was finally moving on with his life, but little did they know that for the first time in weeks, Draco cried himself to sleep as he wished Hermione was still with him.


	7. Chapter 7

In a fit of annoyance Hermione threw the book she'd been scouring onto the floor. All summer she'd been searching through books and papers to try and find Voldemort's missing Horcrux, but she was getting nowhere. Not that she was too surprised as it was virtually impossible for her to do what the Order wanted her to while she was stuck in a cottage miles away from civilisation. To really track down the silver cup she needed to get out and physically follow leads, not trudge through useless books and papers.

"Serves them right," Hermione muttered to herself as she got off her bed and wandered over to the window.

Part of her was pleased that she wasn't making any progress for the Order, but another part of her recognised that her lack of progress was also furthering her entrapment in the cottage. To be honest it was only the thought of getting out of the cottage that had Hermione scouring books for the last couple of months. She was so desperate to escape that she was willingly to try and help the Order, even though she'd developed a strong hatred for everyone involved in her kidnapping and faking her death.

Knowing there was nothing else she could find from the books and papers she'd been provided with, Hermione stacked them up and placed them in the corner of the room. She then headed downstairs, and ignoring Tonks who was her current prison guard, Hermione got herself a drink. Fully intending to go and sit in the garden and enjoy the last remaining fine weather as autumn began to set in, Hermione headed for the back door only to be nearly hit in the face when it flew open and Harry stomped into the cottage.

Hermione didn't bother greeting Harry as over the last few weeks their relationship had turned distinctly frosty. It didn't matter how much he and Ron tried to make her understand their position, she just couldn't accept what they'd done to her. Nothing could excuse the fact they'd been party to such a despicable act, and Hermione knew she would never forgive them. With any luck when she was able to finally leave the cottage she would never have to set eyes on either of the two boys she once called her best friends.

"How's Ron?" Tonks asked as she entered the kitchen, alerted to Harry's presence by the wards of the cottage.

"Still in a bad way," Harry replied as he slumped onto one of the kitchen chairs.

"What happened to Ron?" Hermione asked, even though she found she didn't really care what had happened.

"He was injured in an attack on The Burrow a couple of days ago," Harry answered. "He's laid up in bed with a badly broken leg and there's even worries he might not walk again."

"Surely broken bones are easily fixed with magic," Hermione said with a frown.

"There was too much damage," Harry replied with a long, drawn out sigh. "His entire knee was shattered. I swear next time I see Malfoy I'm going to make the bastard pay for what he did to Ron."

"Malfoy?" Hermione whispered in horror. She hoped that Harry meant Lucius, but her instinct told her he was talking about Draco.

"Draco sodding Malfoy," Harry spat. "He deliberately stood on Ron's knee to break it. But then again, it's just what we've come to expect from him."

"He is a particularly vicious Death Eater," Tonks said quietly with a rueful shake of her head.

"Death Eater?" Hermione gasped, gripped with horror at the thought of Draco being involved with Voldemort. "That can't be right. The Malfoys are neutral."

"That was all just some big act," Harry scoffed. "In fact it was likely an act for Malfoy himself to get close to you. I'm sorry to tell you this, but we believe Malfoy was going to try and kill you. If we hadn't gotten you away from Hogwarts when we did, he likely would have killed you for Voldemort."

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Hermione scoffed, her mind still reeling over the news that Draco had joined the dark side. "What on earth makes you think such a thing?"

"Malfoy left school just days after you did," Harry answered. "He went straight to Voldemort, and joined the Death Eaters. And since then he's built up quite a reputation for himself."

"What sort of reputation?" Hermione asked as she shakily slid into the kitchen chair furthest away from Harry.

"As one of the most dangerous Death Eaters to have ever served Voldemort," Tonks replied. "Even the other Death Eaters are scared of him."

"But why? What makes him so dangerous?" Hermione pressed, not satisfied with the answers she was getting. She wanted to know what exactly was going on with the wizard she loved.

"He's brutal, Hermione," Harry explained. "In battles he's fearless, with no regard for anyone. If someone gets in his way, either from the Order or even another Death Eater, he curses them. A couple of weeks ago he sent Percy into a wall with such force he cracked his skull, killing him instantly. What he did to Ron was just typical of what we've come to expect from him."

"No," Hermione whispered, not wanting to believe what Harry and Tonks were telling her.

"It's true," Tonks said gently. "He's ruthless on the battlefield. There's even been rumours that he's left behind injured Death Eaters rather than help them. He's a monster, and no-one will be safe until he's put down."

"I just wish we could," Harry grouched. "It's like he's gifted in some way. I've seen him battered and bruised in battle, but never seriously injured. He seems to escape the worst of things, and then next time he's back and ready for more."

"I can't believe it," Hermione muttered, more to herself than to Harry and Tonks.

All she could think about was Draco, and what could have driven him to such darkness. Although to her it was really very obvious what had happened. Her 'death' had broken him, and sent him spiralling into darkness. From what Harry and Tonks had said, Hermione suspected that Draco had become so dangerous because he felt he had nothing to live for. More than ever she knew she had to escape and get back to Draco before the darkness swallowed him forever and she lost him completely.

"When will we know about Ron?" Tonks asked, seemingly oblivious to the torment Hermione was going through just inches away from her.

"In a few days," Harry said. "Let's hope its good news. And speaking of good news, Hermione, I was hoping you would have some for me."

"No," Hermione answered shortly as she abruptly got to her feet and headed back up to her bedroom.

Harry was right behind her, and Hermione had barely even entered the room when he burst in behind her and asked her what was wrong.

"What do you think is wrong, Harry?" Hermione snarled. "I'm stuck here in this cottage, while the war is raging around us. I've been betrayed by people I love, and everyone else I care about thinks I'm dead. So what could possibly be wrong?"

"We're only going to fight if we go over this again," Harry said with a resigned sigh. As much as he wanted to get through to Hermione and make her understand why they did what they'd did, he knew when she was angry that she wasn't going to listen, so it was best to leave the subject for another time. "Have you had any luck with the Horcrux?"

"No," Hermione replied. "It's impossible, Harry."

"Nothing is impossible," Harry retorted. "You taught me that, Hermione. I have faith in you, and I know you'll find it for us."

"I won't," Hermione said frostily. "More importantly, I can't. It's impossible to track down the cup's current location using old books and papers. I need to physically track the cup down, following its trail and talking to real live people. It would have been no problem if all you'd wanted to me to do was identify the cup, but with the resources you've given me, it's impossible to track it down."

"There has to be some way," Harry muttered.

"I've just told you, there is," Hermione said. "Let me leave here and I can track the cup down using leads and live resources."

"I'm sorry Hermione, it's just not an option," Harry said, shaking his head sadly. "It's not safe for you as long as Voldemort is alive."

"And as long as I remain your prisoner in this cottage he will remain that way," Hermione snapped. "Make your choice Harry, and make sure you make the right one. You either carry on with this misguided attempt to keep me safe and allow Voldemort to carry on, or you set me free and let me help you defeat him."

"I can keep you safe and still defeat him," Harry said stubbornly. "I'm sorry Hermione, but you will not be leaving this cottage until Voldemort is dead."

"In that case I have nothing more to say to you," Hermione said haughtily as she turned her back on her former friend and gazed out of the window. "I can't help you any further, and I don't wish to see you again. Don't bother coming back, because this is the last time I will ever speak to you."

Harry hovered in the bedroom for nearly five minutes, before he realised that Hermione had said all she had to say, and he wouldn't get another word out of her. Hermione waited until she was sure Harry had really gone, before she shut the bedroom door, sat down on the bed and let the tears fall. For months she'd been worried about Draco and how he was coping, but now she knew what had happened to him since her 'death', and it was far worse than she ever could have imagined. She never would have thought his grief would take him to the dark side, and she just prayed that she would get the chance to return to him and bring the light back into his life.

Curling up on her bed, Hermione's head was filled with thoughts of Draco. She also thought about Dumbledore, Harry, Ron and everyone else who had played a part in her fake death. They were to blame for what was happening with Draco, and it made her blood boil that their reckless actions had altered the course of his life. Because of them, Draco had become a Death Eater and dove head first into a world of darkness. Hermione knew that even if she got back to Draco he would be different, and for that the Order were to blame. She hated every last one of them, and she vowed that if she ever did get back to Draco she would encourage him to use his darkness to get revenge on everyone who had ruined their lives.

* * *

Once again Lucius found himself in The Half-Giant, waiting for Mundungus, and once again Mundungus was running late. When he did arrive, he scuttled over to Lucius, apologising for his tardiness. Not in the mood to deal with Mundungus, Lucius cut him off mid-sentence and asked him what he'd found out about the mysterious prisoner Sirius and Remus were keeping.

"I did as you asked and kept a close watch," Mundungus began. "Along with Sirius and Remus, Nymphadora Tonks and Molly Weasley also seem to be involved. I've witnessed all of them leaving Order headquarters secretly and not returning for days on end. I also think the youngest Weasley boy and Harry Potter know what's going on. They've had whispered conversation with all the others, and even though they don't go missing for days, they do vanish for hours on end."

"Do you have any idea where they go?" Lucius asked. He was becoming increasingly sure that the information Mundungus was delivering was going to be very useful, and he decided it was time to consult with The Dark Lord.

"No," Mundungus answered with a shake of his head. "They're very careful to never say where they'd going, and you know how hard it is to trace apparition without risking detection."

"I need to know where they're going," Lucius mused, his mind already brimming with possible ways to get the information he needed.

"How do I do that?" Mundungus asked with a pout. "If I start following them around I'll be out of the Order so fast my head will be spinning."

"Meet me back here tomorrow evening," Lucius said. "I'm going to give you a tracking potion I want you to slip it to everyone who you think is involved in this scheme. That will reveal where they're going, and I'll take it from there."

Throwing down a bag of coins on the scuffed table, Lucius rose to his feet and swept unnoticed out of the pub. Deciding it was time to tell Voldemort what he'd discovered, Lucius headed to his sister-in-law's house, where The Dark Lord was staying. Lucius arrived at the house in time to pass Rodolphus leaving the house. Lucius often wondered what Bellatrix's husband thought of having The Dark Lord in his home, and no doubt in his bed with his wife. It was an open secret that Voldemort and Bellatrix were together, and Rodolphus was surplus to requirements. Chances were he was only kept around because he was a loyal Death Eater and had quite the reputation for bypassing high security wards.

Entering the front room of Bellatrix's house, Lucius found his sister-in-law alone. A quick conversation was enough for Bellatrix to rush off to get her lover and moments later Lucius was in the presence of The Dark Lord.

"Bella says you have some potentially useful information for me," Voldemort said to Lucius, as he gestured for the blond wizard to take a seat.

"Hopefully I do," Lucius replied as he repeated everything he'd learnt from his meeting with Mundungus. He then explained what his next step was going to be and how the following day he was going to give Mundungus a way for them to track the Order and hopefully locate their mystery prisoner.

"Interesting," Voldemort mused. "We're not missing any Death Eaters, are we?" He checked.

"No," Bellatrix replied with a shake of her head. "We've lost a couple this last month, but they were killed in battles. Whoever the Order have, it's not one of us."

"Now why would the Order have someone who's not a Death Eater?" Voldemort questioned with a frown. "Whoever this person is, they must be important. Did your source mention anything that could give us a clue as to their identity?"

"I'm afraid not," Lucius said ruefully. "I've told you everything I know."

"Even so, it's still worth investigating," Voldemort said.

"If I can get the tracking potions to Fletcher tomorrow evening, we can begin then," Lucius said. "Although it will take a few weeks, possibly even months before we're sure we're on the right track."

"We can't risk making a wrong move," Voldemort agreed. "We can afford to take our time with this, but Lucius make sure you keep Fletcher onside and have him report any changes of circumstances. As long as the Order have their prisoner, we've got time to locate them and see just who they are and why the Order have them."

"Of course My Lord," Lucius replied as he stood up. "I will need help monitoring the tracking spells. I could ask Draco to help if that's okay."

"I'm sorry Lucius, but I'm going to be needing Draco for the next few weeks," Voldemort replied. "I've got a couple of very special tasks for him. Get Rabastan or Rodolphus to help you."

"Yes, My Lord," Lucius said. "I'll keep you up to date with everything I discover."

Leaving Voldemort to enjoy his evening with Bellatrix, Lucius headed off home to his wife. He also had potions to prepare as the dark side looked to discover just who the Order were holding prisoner, and why they had a captive who wasn't a Death Eater.

* * *

 **A/N - First I want to thank people for reading this story. I know this part can get quite emotional, and is the hardest part of the story (or at least that was my intention when I wrote it). But just remember I'm a sucker for a happy ending and Draco and Hermione will be reunited.**

 **I also wanted to mention an idea a guest reviewer left on one of my stories. They were wanting me to write some pieces set after the actual stories are finished. It is sort of like an idea I had before, but at the time I just made it too complicated and abandoned the idea. However, I do like the idea of re-exploring some of my stories and doing a series of catch-up pieces - each set so many years after the final chapter. So I am currently going to be making some notes about what stories to revisit, and I would like to hear from the people who read them. So if there's a story you would like a bonus piece on, or if there's something in particular you've been wanting to know about an outcome in a certain story, send me a message and I'll make a note of everyone's request and try and fulfil as many as I can.**


	8. Chapter 8

Caution wasn't always high on Voldemort's agenda, but when it came to finding who the Order were secretly holding prisoner, he was happy to take things slow and steady. He'd trusted Lucius to handle everything and bring him into things when he had solid and useful information to share with him. Since Lucius was the thorough type, he'd wanted to check and double check his information before sharing it with The Dark Lord, so it was mid-November before Lucius requested a meeting with The Dark Lord to discuss what he and the Lestrange brothers had discovered.

The meeting was held at Bellatrix and Rodolphus's house, and it was a private meeting with only a select few people present. Lucius, Rodolphus and Rabastan were all present to present their findings to Voldemort, and Voldemort himself had requested the presence of Bellatrix and Severus. Lucius had quietly spoken to Severus about the mystery prisoner, but it had been the first he'd heard of it, and even though his own investigations concluded that the group Mundungus suspected of being involved with the prisoner were hiding something, he'd found no leads to help them. Although he was fully prepared to admit he could envision Dumbledore taking a prisoner and only informing a select few members of the Order.

"I hope we have answers, Lucius," Voldemort said as the group gathered around Bellatrix's large dining room table.

"Not to the identity of the prisoner," Lucius replied regretfully. "But using the tracking spells Fletcher slipped to the members of the Order, we've found a remote area in Wales where the group visit. The area has no solid connection with the Order, and Severus has confirmed it's not the location of any Order safe house."

"I've never even heard anyone mention Wales before," Severus supplied. "Wherever they're going, I don't know where it is."

"And everyone with the tracking spell have been to this place?" Voldemort asked, looking at the map reference Lucius had given him in Wales.

"Actually no," Lucius confessed. "The Potter boy and his Weasley friend haven't been near there."

"Although to be fair, Ron's spent a lot of the last few weeks at home," Severus added. "He's still walking with a limp following his run-in with Draco."

"But everyone else has been to Wales?" Voldemort checked.

"Yes, and when they go they tend to stay anywhere between two to five days," Lucius said. "There's always a crossover as well. Whoever is there doesn't leave before someone comes to relieve them. There's been a constant presence since we've started the surveillance, or at least since everyone was slipped the potion as Fletcher had to do that in stages and take advantage of who was around at the time. But since they've all been dosed, there's always someone there."

"Is there always just one person?" Voldemort asked.

"Not always," Rodolphus answered. "The Weasley woman is always there on her own, but the other three are often there in pairs."

"What do we do?" Bellatrix asked Voldemort. "Do we risk an attack on this place?"

"Yes, I want to know who they're holding and why," Voldemort said with a firm nod of his head. "But before we do, do we have any idea what sort of place we're talking about?"

"All the records I can pull up on the area say it's pretty sparsely populated," Lucius answered. "The only buildings in that area are holiday cottages and small homes. We're certainly not talking anywhere heavily fortified."

"Even so, I don't want to take any chances," Voldemort said. "Rodolphus, Rabastan, I want the pair of you to get yourselves down to Wales and find this mysterious property. Whatever you do, don't be seen and don't make any attempt to try and breach the property. I just want to know what exactly we're dealing with."

"How long do we have?" Rabastan asked, knowing that Voldemort often set time limits on his Death Eaters to make sure they didn't slack off and did as she asked for them.

"There's no rush, but I don't want you to take forever either," Voldemort replied. "I'm going to be busy for the next few days anyway. Lucius, I take it Draco is back home?"

For the last three weeks Draco had been away dealing with a special task for The Dark Lord. No-one but the two of them knew what had been going on, and Lucius hadn't even known where his son had been. All he knew was that Draco had been out of the country, and he didn't seem to be staying at any Malfoy property. Narcissa had been worried sick about him and what he could be doing, but they'd had no way to contact him. Fortunately he'd returned home the previous day unhurt, although he'd retreated to his own wing of the manor and neither of them had seen him since. Even though months had passed since Hermione's death he was still cold and distant and with each passing month, Lucius was losing faith in ever getting his son back.

"He returned home yesterday," Lucius said to Voldemort.

"Good, tell him I'll be round to see him this evening. I have something else for him to do."

Lucius nodded as Voldemort issued a final few instructions and the meeting broke up. Rabastan and Rodolphus both rushed off to prepare to head to Wales, while Lucius asked Severus if he wanted to pop back to the manor for a drink. Even though he should have been getting back to school, Severus accepted the offer and he accompanied his friend back to Malfoy Manor.

The two wizards found Narcissa sitting in the living room, staring into space. It was clear the last few months had been affecting her, and although she was still beautiful, Severus could see a weariness about her he'd never witnessed before. Even her welcoming smile seemed forced and he could see the unshed tears swimming in her crystal blue eyes.

"How are things, Severus?" Narcissa asked politely as the two wizards settled down to talk to her.

"Everything's just fine," Severus replied. "How are things here?"

"Still the same," Narcissa answered with a sigh, knowing that Severus was asking about Draco. "It's like I've lost my son. He's still here and walking about, but the Draco I know and love has shrivelled and died. He's so cold these days."

"I suspect it's the only way he can cope with his loss," Severus said quietly. He knew a bit about losing the love of his life, but as hard as it had been for him to lose Lily, he knew it must be ten times worse for Draco since Hermione had actually loved him back and they'd been a real couple.

"That's just the thing, he's not coping," Narcissa insisted. "He's refusing to deal with losing Hermione, and it's dragged him into the darkness. Hell, it's dragged all of us into the darkness. If this was what he truly wanted, I wouldn't complain, but we all know this isn't what he wants."

"Do you still think he wants to die?" Severus asked.

"I don't know," Narcissa confessed. "I hope not, but I just don't know since he refuses to talk to us."

"Every day that passes without him being killed, I hope makes him realise just what he has to live for," Lucius said. "I keep telling myself that if he really wanted to die, he would have done so by now. Going into battles, he's just reckless, and it's a miracle he hasn't already been killed."

"I think he's lucky he hasn't been around just lately. Potter's seriously gunning for him after what happened with Weasley." Severus said. With Draco busy doing secret tasks for Voldemort, he hadn't been present at a battle since the attack on The Burrow when he'd seriously injured Ron.

"But the boy's okay, isn't he?" Narcissa checked.

"He's alive and he can walk," Severus replied. "But he's got a limp that won't even leave him."

"Given the state Draco's been in, he should think himself lucky he's just walked away with a limp," Lucius said with a snort.

Severus nodded his agreement as he changed the subject away from Draco. He knew his friends were suffering along with their son, and he himself was worried sick about Draco, but dwelling on it wasn't getting them anywhere. Until Draco was finally ready to open up to them, all they could do was wait and be there for him when he was ready to accept their love and support.

* * *

Hermione's image swam in Draco's head as he screwed his eyes shut and relentlessly thrust into the nameless witch he'd picked up at a nearby bar. It was only the second time since Hermione died that he'd been with someone else, and as with the first time, there was no emotions involved. It was sex, plain and simple, and all he was doing was scratching an itch that he couldn't quite satisfy on his own. The witch he was with could have been anyone for all he cared, he just needed to be with someone.

When he came, Draco whispered Hermione's name, and it was his girlfriend's image burned into his mind as his body shook with pleasure. The second he started to regain his senses, he de-tangled himself from the witch he'd picked up in the bar. He then made his excuses as to why they couldn't carry on their evening, before leaving her in the alley where they'd just had sex and returning home.

The first thing Draco did upon returning home was have a hot shower, and it wasn't until he'd stepped out of the shower and was getting dressed that he realised he wasn't alone in his wing of the manor. Hastily shoving the rest of his clothes on, he headed off to confront whoever had intruded on his privacy yet again. However, he was rather stunned to find Voldemort casually flicking through his books when he entered the library.

"I don't think there's any need for that, Draco," Voldemort said with a chuckle, eyeing in the wand Draco had clutched in his hand.

"Sorry My Lord, I had no idea you were here," Draco said as he slipped his wand into his pocket.

"Your father mentioned he couldn't pass the message on as you weren't here when he got back earlier," Voldemort replied with a casual shrug of his shoulder. "Still, I decided to wait. I'm eager to hear how the rest of your trip went."

Draco had just returned from Brazil, where he'd spent weeks tracking down a family heirloom from a pureblood family with connections to Salazar Slytherin. Once he'd tracked down the necklace, Voldemort had showed up and taken it from him for a couple of days. He'd then returned the necklace and ordered him to hide it as he'd earlier done with the cup and the brooch.

"The necklace is secure," Draco assured The Dark Lord. He'd hidden the piece of jewellery in an old sock and then placed it behind a loose wall panel of the hotel room he'd been staying in, before fixing the panel so only his magic could loosen it again.

"Excellent work," Voldemort said with a pleased nod. "And now I've got another task for you. Again I want you to track down another family heirloom, this time in India."

"Tell me the name of the family and I'll get going," Draco said. He would rather be fighting, but for the last few weeks The Dark Lord had kept him off the front lines and he knew arguing would only lead to him being tortured. Voldemort knew what he wanted, and Draco knew that he wouldn't give it to him, he might hurt him, but he would never kill him.

"Sharma," Voldemort supplied. "I'll give you all the information I have on the family, and on the item I want you to obtain. Leave when you're ready, and send for me when you have the item in your possession."

"Yes My Lord," Draco replied as Voldemort rose to leave.

When Voldemort was gone, Draco sorted himself a glass of firewhisky and settled himself down to think. Finally his curiosity was beginning to rise and he thought about the three items he'd hidden for Voldemort. He still didn't know what they meant, or why they were important, but he was now starting to get curious about what he'd been doing. Summoning some parchment, he jotted down descriptions of the three items he'd hidden for Voldemort, and where he'd hidden them. He then slipped the parchment into a book and slotted it onto one of the bookshelves. He wasn't sure why he'd done what he just had, but something told him it might just prove useful. After all, maybe if he could work out what he was doing, he would have some ammunition on Voldemort and he could goad The Dark Lord into doing what he'd wanted all along – kill him and end the unbearable pain he was living with.


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione stared out of her bedroom window at the swirling snow. It was the first week of December and Hermione's spirits were as low as they'd ever been. Following the revelations about Draco the last time Harry had visited, Hermione had been filled with thoughts of her boyfriend. She still couldn't believe what had happened to him, and she wanted nothing more than to get back to him. She knew being part of the dark would have changed him, but she'd already decided that it didn't matter to her. Whether he was dark or not, she still loved him and she wasn't going to hold anything he'd done in the time since her fake death against him.

Of course, Hermione still had to find a way to get back to Draco, and it wasn't looking like it was going to happen any-time soon. After her initial attempts to escape, she'd allowed herself to be distracted by useless research for the Order, but since she'd given Harry his marching orders, her attention had turned back to trying to escape. Sadly her second attempts at escaping hadn't gone any better than the first attempts, and Hermione was stuck with no idea how she was going to escape and get back to Draco.

For a while she'd focused her attempts at escaping to coincide with people arriving and leaving the house. When people came, they either used the floo or they apparated outside of the house's boundary and merely walked through the door. However, Hermione had already discovered that she couldn't get past the wards around the boundary, not even when she tried to time it so she was passing through them the exact same time as someone arrived or left. And as for the floo network, it just didn't respond to her when she tried to activate it.

Following her argument with Harry, Hermione's relationship with the Order had taken a swift nosedive. Things hadn't been great beforehand, but now she knew Draco was a Death Eater because of them, she had even less time for her captors. Fortunately Harry had taken her warning to heart and she hadn't seen either him or Ron since the day she discovered Draco's fate. Molly was slowly spending less and less time doing her share of the guard duties, meaning more often than not Tonks, Sirius or Remus, or a combination of the three, were her guards. Not that Hermione spoke to them very often, and when she did they often received the sharp end of her tongue.

The only problem with not really talking to them meant she didn't know really anything that was going on outside the house. Since the first incident with the paper, no-one had brought another one into the house. Now the only reading material the Order ever showed up with were books, even magazines were banned. Harry and Ron had been the ones to talk to her about the war, but with them not visiting any more Hermione was left wondering what was happening. She was also wondering about Draco, but unless she was going to ask about him, she had no way of finding out what he was currently up to.

Hermione was suddenly jolted from her thoughts about Draco, and what he could be doing right now, by Tonks' voice drifting up the stairs. Currently Tonks and Lupin were in the house with her, but Hermione was spending most of her time in her room. The pair were clearly in the first stages of a romantic relationship and it made Hermione feel ill to watch them together. She found it profoundly unfair that they should have happiness when she'd been brutally torn away from the wizard she loved, sending Draco into a dark spiral she had no idea if he could even be saved from.

"Hermione," Tonks called for a second time. "Come down here."

Knowing Tonks would only come up and start badgering her in person if she failed to respond, Hermione tore herself away from the window and made her way downstairs. In the front room she found Tonks standing in the middle of the room, smiling happily. In the corner was a large Christmas tree, and beside it was two boxes stuffed full of decorations.

"I thought we could make the place more festive," Tonks said brightly.

"That's not possible," Hermione replied tonelessly.

"I borrowed the decorations from Molly, and I got the stuff for us to bake mince pies," Tonks continued, ignoring Hermione's sullen tone.

"You can't make a prison cheerful," Hermione snapped.

"I know this isn't ideal, but we have to make the most of the situation," Tonks said with a sigh as she looked up at Hermione. "We can't just ignore Christmas."

"Why not?" Hermione retorted. "Do you think my parents will be celebrating Christmas? Do you think they'll be decorating a stupid tree, or making mince pies? I see no reason to celebrate Christmas. For me, Christmas is about spending time with the people you love, and thanks to you lot I've lost all the people I love. All the people I care about think I'm dead. That hardly makes for a cheerful Christmas."

"It won't be forever," Tonks said quietly, taken aback by the venom in Hermione's voice. She was getting used to Hermione snapping at them, or even ignoring them, but it had been a long time since she'd been so angry. "Once the threat is gone, you'll be free to continue on with your life."

"What life? You've taken my life away from me," Hermione snorted. As eager as she was to get back to Draco, she knew the longer she was away the more chance he would have had to move on. As it was, she had no idea what things were like for him right now, for all she knew he could be preparing for Christmas with a new girlfriend on his arm.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Tonks said sounding genuinely apologetic.

"So am I," Hermione replied sharply. "Sorry, I ever got involved with this bloody Order."

Turning her back on Tonks, Hermione left the front room and headed into the kitchen. Lupin was in the kitchen and the look on his face showed he'd heard the entire conversation. Not bothering to even speak to the former Professor, Hermione yanked open the back door and strode out into the garden with its thin layer of snow. Despite the fact it was snowing lightly, and she wasn't wearing anything more than jeans and a jumper, Hermione made her way towards the bottom of the garden. At the bottom of the garden was a hollowed out tree, with a seat situated inside the actual tree. The seat was charmed to never get covered in rain or snow, so the wood was perfectly dry as Hermione settled down on it.

Hermione spent over an hour sitting in the tree thinking. She mainly thought about Draco, and if he had moved on romantically. What she'd learnt from Harry had made it seem as though he was still struggling with her 'death', hence his recklessness when in battles. However, that had been weeks ago and Hermione knew Draco couldn't mourn her forever. It really did break her heart to think of him with someone else, but at the same time, it devastated her to think of him so torn up with grief that he couldn't move on. Of course things were complicated given the fact she wasn't really dead, but Hermione knew that if she had been dead, she wouldn't have wanted Draco to waste his life mourning her. She would have wanted him to move on and find someone else, she just hoped he hadn't already done it before she finally made it back to him.

When the cold eventually got too much for her, Hermione reluctantly left the tree to head back inside. By now the snow was getting heavier, and Hermione was shivering with the cold. When she did finally enter the house, she could smell fresh mince pies as she shook the snow off herself. A whole tray of mince pies was sitting cooling on the bench, but Hermione ignored the temptation to have one as she walked through the kitchen to the front room.

In the front room, the tree was almost decorated, and Tonks and Lupin were busy hanging the last few baubles. Watching them smile at each other as they worked caused a pang in Hermione's chest, and she carried on through the front room without acknowledging them.

"Don't go, Hermione," Lupin called after her.

"And why would I want to stay?" Hermione retorted, whirling round in the doorway leading to the stairs and glaring at the couple. "I'll just go off upstairs and leave you two to your tree and mince pies."

"None of this is for us, Hermione," Lupin said. "We're doing this for you. We wanted the place to be cheerful, for you. We made mince pies because they're your favourite Christmas treat, and we thought the tree would help get you in a festive mood."

"And that's supposed to make everything okay?" Hermione yelled. "I shouldn't be mad, because you've made me mince pies and decorated a tree for me. That makes everything all right, does it?"

Hermione had barely closed her mouth when a loud shattering noise rang around the entire house and every window in the place shattered. For a second Hermione thought she'd broken the windows using accidental magic. Everyone knew accidental magic was more likely to occur when strong emotions were involved, and even though she was a fully grown witch and accidental magic was rare in adults, it did still happen, especially when they were without a wand to channel their magic. However that theory quickly dispersed, when Lupin and Tonks rushed forward and grabbed onto her, before Lupin tried to apparate them away.

"What happened?" Tonks questioned when Lupin failed to get them to move.

"I can't apparate," Lupin answered with a frown.

"But Dumbledore built in safety features to the wards, meaning we could apparate if we were in any danger," Tonks protested.

"They've been dismantled," Lupin said worriedly. "Take Hermione through the floo to Grimmauld Place."

As Tonks pulled her towards the fire, Hermione sensed her opportunity to escape had arrived. She had no idea who was outside the house, but they'd managed to break Dumbledore's wards, meaning escape was possible. All she needed to do was get away from Tonks and Lupin. Hermione waited until Tonks loosened her grip to grab the floo powder, before wrenching her arm out of the older witch's grasp. Without waiting to see how Tonks reacted, Hermione turned and fled towards the kitchen.

Hermione ran through the kitchen at top speed, only vaguely aware of Tonks and Lupin calling her name and running after her. Without stopping, Hermione yanked open the back door and ran straight into a figure in a dark cloak. Looking up, she found herself face to face with a masked Death Eater.

"Going somewhere?" The Death Eater asked with a chuckle. Before Hermione had a chance to move, the Death Eater grabbed hold of her. "Get the other two, and search the entire place," he ordered four more Death Eaters as they entered the house.

Hermione struggled against the Death Eaters grasp, but it was so much stronger than the hold Tonks had on her moments earlier. Unable to get away, Hermione could only watch as Tonks and Lupin battled against the other Death Eaters. Unfortunately for them the fight was brief and they were quickly knocked out and restrained. Once they were restrained, the other Death Eaters set about searching the place.

"There's no-one else here," one of the Death Eaters announced as they re-entered the kitchen.

"Take these back to the manor and throw them in the dungeons," the Death Eater that had hold of Hermione growled as he pushed Hermione into the equally firm grasp of another Death Eater. "I want a final look around."

"Do as you want Rodolphus," the other Death Eater shrugged. "You won't find anything."

"It's better to be safe than sorry," Rodolphus replied. "Now take these three and go."

Hermione barely had a chance to see Rodolphus stride from the room, before she was being whisked away by the Death Eater who had hold of her. The harsh feeling of side along apparition was made worse by the fact the second she hit solid ground, Hermione was thrown to the floor. She landed on a cold, stone floor and as she landed she felt her wrist twist awkwardly underneath her body. The pain in her wrist was enough to distract Hermione from lashing out as she was yanked over to the wall and shackled by her right ankle.

"You don't want to do this," Hermione warned her captors. From the second she'd heard the word manor, Hermione had felt hope bubbling up inside of her. Unless she was very much mistaken, she'd been brought to the very place she'd been trying to escape to – Malfoy Manor.

"And why not?" one of the Death Eater's asked as Tonks and Lupin were shackled to another wall over the other side of the room.

"I want to see Draco," Hermione stated, instead of answering the question she'd been asked.

"It's not up to you who you want to see," the Death Eater sneered.

"Not that he's here anyway," another one added. "The jumped up little git is away again."

Not giving Hermione a chance to make more demands, the Death Eaters left the small stone dungeon and shut a heavy door behind them. Groaning in frustration, Hermione checked the shackles and not surprisingly found they couldn't be loosed using wandless magic. Flicking her gaze over to the other wall, she found that Lupin and Tonks were still unconscious. Not that she was really bothered by that, all she was bothered about was finding a way to get Draco down to see her. She was so close to the love of her life, yet so far as he seemingly had no idea she was being held prisoner under his house.

An hour later, Hermione had just been getting used to the peace and quiet in the dungeons when Tonks and Lupin began to stir. Within ten minutes they were both awake and asking if she knew where they were being held.

"Malfoy Manor." Hermione replied, watching the way they exchanged worried looks at the news.

"This isn't good," Lupin said at last.

"Being held prisoner is never good," Hermione retorted.

"This is far worse than anything we've done to you, Hermione," Lupin said. "We're all in real danger here. Especially if The Dark Lord brings Malfoy into play. I've heard rumours that he thinks Draco has the potential to turn his hand to torture."

"I'm sure he does," Hermione said. "Especially when faced with you two."

"I think you mean three," Tonks said. "Or do you think he'll spare you because you went to school together? I'm sorry Hermione, but he's not the sentimental sort. You're in for a whole world of pain, just like we are."

"I don't think so," Hermione replied with smug smile. "You see there's something the Order had no idea about when you kidnapped me and faked my death. I had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who has since turned to the dark and forged quite a reputation for himself. So ask yourself this, Tonks, just what do you think Draco will do when he finds out I'm alive and two of the people responsible for keeping up apart are right here in his dungeons?"

"No," Tonks gasped.

"You and Malfoy," Lupin stated in a shocked voice.

"Yes, before you interfered in my life I was with Draco," Hermione confirmed, smirking when she spotted the pure fear reflected in Tonks and Lupin's eyes as they took in the fact they were about to come face to face with the one wizard who had a serious grudge to bear with them.

Hermione didn't say anything else, but nothing else needed to be said. Tonks and Lupin were now both aware of what a monumental mistake they'd made in taking part in Hermione's kidnapping, but it was too late to take it back. They'd gotten involved in the foolish plan, and now they were about to pay the price as neither of them doubted that when Draco found out the truth about what had happened, he would make them both pay for the hell they'd put him and Hermione through. Their lives were nearly over, and everyone in the dungeons knew it. Draco would take his revenge, and Hermione found that she didn't care if it meant he killed Tonks and Lupin. After everything she'd been through, she'd also changed and she was more than ready to let the darkness into her own heart.


	10. Chapter 10

A select few members of the Order were gathering for a meeting at Grimmauld Place when Dumbledore's wand began to shoot off a loud buzzing sound. With a look of panic on his face, Dumbledore pulled the wand from his robes. When the wand was free from the robes a red flashing accompanied the buzzing sound.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"We have a situation," Dumbledore answered gravely. "Sirius and Harry, come with me."

"Why not me?" Ron asked from where he was sitting resting his leg. Even though he was up and about, his leg was still not perfect and he was finding he was having trouble staying on his feet for prolonged moments of time.

"I'm sorry Ron, I don't think we can risk you slowing us down," Dumbledore said apologetically. "Stay here and keep everyone else from following us."

"Following us where?" Harry asked.

"The wards around the house where we're keeping Hermione have been breached," Dumbledore answered quietly, quickly checking they were still alone and no-one had wandered into the room unnoticed. "We need to go and find out what's happened."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Tonks and Remus will have gotten Hermione to safety," Sirius reassured Harry and Ron as the two teenagers shared a worried look.

"What do I tell the others?" Ron asked. "We're supposed to be having a meeting, and there's people already in the house."

"Tell them it was an emergency and I'll explain when we get back," Dumbledore replied. "But if they ask, you didn't know where we were going, do you understand?"

"I understand," Ron said with a solemn nod. "You better get going before it's too late."

"Quite right," Dumbledore said with an agreeable nod. "Remember to be prepared for anything. If we're dealing with Death Eaters, we don't want them to get their hands on anyone."

Making sure they were prepared, the trio hurried out of Grimmauld Place and apparated to the house in Wales. The second they arrived at the small house, they spotted evidence that something wasn't right. All the windows were broken, and the back door was standing wide open. Entering the house they found furniture was turned over and even the Christmas tree was lying on its side.

"Check the entire place thoroughly," Dumbledore ordered.

Before they had a chance to split up and search the house a figure in dark robes appeared in the doorway that led to the stairs.

"Death Eater!" Harry cried as he whirled round and shot a curse at the figure in black.

The Death Eater easily dodged Harry's curse, and with a low cackle he whipped out his own wand and disappeared before anyone else had a chance to throw another curse at him. Harry and Sirius both swore loudly as the Death Eater vanished without further incident.

"How the hell did they know about this house?" Sirius asked Dumbledore. "It's not an official Order property. You said they wouldn't find out about it."

"Let's worry about that later," Dumbledore said. He was wondering the exact same thing, but before they worried about how the Death Eaters had found the place they needed to locate Hermione. "For now, let's have a look around."

While Dumbledore and Sirius set about searching the ground floor, Harry wandered upstairs. The upstairs of the house wasn't as trashed as the ground floor, but it was still clear the place had been thoroughly searched. Harry was just pleased that once he and Ron had stopped visiting Hermione that she'd sent back all the books and papers she'd been working on while trying to track down the Horcrux. At least this way the dark still had no idea they were on the Horcrux trail and making progress in defeating Voldemort once and for all.

Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Harry whirled round with his wand at the ready, only to find his godfather approaching him. Sirius quickly established that the upstairs was as deserted as the downstairs, and he urged Harry to return back downstairs so they could discuss their next move.

"Do you think they've got her?" Harry asked quietly as he stood in the doorway of the room Hermione had been using. "Was all this in vain?"

"I'm sure Tonks and Remus will have gotten her to safety," Sirius replied, although he sounded anything but certain. "I'm sure all of this is just an unfortunate coincidence. There's no way the dark could have known that Hermione was here. Everyone thinks she's dead."

"Let's hope you're right," Harry sighed as he turned and followed his godfather back down to where Dumbledore was waiting for them.

"Nothing," Sirius announced. "The house is empty."

"Sirius, head to both of their houses to see if they're there. Also check with Tonks's parents in case they went there, but don't alarm them. Make it sound like a routine inquiry," Dumbledore ordered. "They should have apparated away from here the second the wards were breached. I'm sure they never even knew it was Death Eaters. Harry, I want you to head back to Grimmauld Place. Make an excuse to cancel the meeting and make sure there's just Ron, Molly and Arthur left, and we'll be back as soon as we can."

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked the headmaster.

"I'm going to check the wards around the house," Dumbledore explained. "I need to know how they were breached. I also need to think about what's going to happen next. We'll have to find somewhere safe for Hermione to stay."

"If the Death Eaters haven't already got her," Harry said sulkily.

"Have faith, Harry," Sirius said to his godson. "I'm sure she's perfectly safe with Tonks and Remus."

Harry wanted to believe Hermione was safe, but the fact that Lupin or Tonks hadn't been in touch was rather revealing. In his opinion if they were safe, they would have already been in touch. The fact they'd heard nothing didn't bode well.

Leaving Dumbledore and Sirius to hopefully find some answers, Harry returned to Grimmauld Place. Almost as soon as he arrived back they were bombarded with questions from the Weasleys and the other members of the Order that were present. Harry brushed the emergency off as nothing but a false alarm, but he pulled Molly to one side in the kitchen and quietly told her what had happened.

"How?" Molly gasped. "How did they find her?"

"We don't know yet," Harry replied. "But Dumbledore wants the place empty before they return. He's hoping Hermione's safe with Tonks and Lupin and they'll be returning here."

"I can get rid of everyone now, but we'll not be able to keep the place empty long term," Molly said. "We'll have to find another safe house."

"I'm sure Dumbledore will arrange all that," Harry said as he headed to the front room to quietly bring Ron up to speed.

A quick announcement that the meeting was postponed dealt with a few people, and as for her family Molly announced they would be having dinner at home. Molly sent the casserole she was making back to The Burrow with her family, along with a promise that she and Arthur would be home later. By the time Grimmauld Place had been emptied out, Harry suspected that most people were suspicious that something was going on. Luckily, everyone trusted Dumbledore and they knew that they would be informed of what was happening when the time was right.

Once Grimmauld Place was empty, Harry and Ron settled down at the kitchen table with Molly and Arthur. None of them discussed what was happening, but they all sat silently as they worried about Hermione. They'd gone to such extreme lengths to protect her, and now it looked like it was all in vain. Voldemort had gotten to her after all.

Nearly half an hour after the place emptied, Dumbledore walked into the kitchen looking pensive. Moments later Sirius arrived, and shaking his head desolately he slumped down at the kitchen table beside Harry.

"I can't find them anywhere," Sirius announced. "Remus and Tonks both knew not to bring Hermione here, but they didn't take her to either of their places instead. They're also not with Andromeda and Ted. I just don't know where they've taken her."

"I don't think they've taken her anywhere," Dumbledore said quietly. "Not only were the wards around the cottage breached, but a strong anti-apparition charm had been in place. Tonks and Remus wouldn't have been able to apparate Hermione to safety."

"That's not possible," Harry said. "If there was an anti-apparition charm in place we wouldn't have been able to apparate to the cottage."

"Technically we apparated to outside of the boundary line," Dumbledore said with a shrug. "I'm sure if we'd tried to apparate directly into the house we would have found it impossible."

"But I apparated straight from the cottage when I left," Sirius pointed out.

"So did I," Harry agreed.

"I think the charm deactivated when that last Death Eater left the house," Dumbledore explained. "It took me a while to find the remnants of the charm lingering around the cottage, but I found it. With the charm in place, there was no way Tonks and Remus apparated out of the house."

"Couldn't Tonks and Remus have gotten away some other way?" Molly asked.

"The only other option was flooing, or running," Dumbledore said. "I checked the fire and while the floo connection had been activated, it hadn't been used. As for running, if they'd ran I doubt the Death Eater we saw at the cottage would have remained behind. I hate to say this but in my opinion the dark have Hermione, Remus and Tonks."

"What do we do?" Ron asked. "How do we get them back?"

"That is going to take the work of the entire Order," Dumbledore answered. "Getting our friends back isn't going to be easy, and I can't guarantee it can be done. Of course we'll try our best, but we need to accept this might not have a positive outcome."

"We're also going to have to decide what to tell the rest of the Order," Arthur said quietly. "We're going to have to try and explain about Hermione, and why we did what we did."

"I wasn't planning on mentioning Hermione," Dumbledore said with a frown. The last thing he wanted to do was admit to the rest of the Order the lengths they'd gone to keep Hermione safe, especially as he thought some of them might disapprove of the way they'd handled things. "I'm going to call a full meeting and announce that the dark have kidnapped Tonks and Remus. Hermione's name won't be mentioned."

"And what happens when you know who uses Hermione to taunt Harry?" Arthur questioned. "He's taken her because she's important to Harry, and we all know he won't hesitate to use her to get Harry to do what he wants."

"For the time being, I still think we should keep Hermione's kidnapping under wraps," Dumbledore insisted. "Let's wait and see what Voldemort does with her before we tell people she's alive. There's a slim chance we can rescue her and get her back safely without anyone having to know what's happened."

"As long as she is rescued," Harry said forcefully. "She's my best friend, and I won't let her die because of me. I won't let this be the end, not after everything we've done to protect her in the first place."

"We'll do all we can to save her, Harry," Sirius promised, placing a comforting hand on his godson's shoulder.

Harry nodded gratefully as the debate about what to tell the Order continued to flow around him. Arthur was insistent that they told the rest of the Order the truth, but Dumbledore wasn't having any of it. Eventually Dumbledore won out and everyone agreed they wouldn't mention Hermione when they informed the rest of the Order what had happened. As far as everyone else were concerned they would say that Tonks and Lupin had been spending a romantic weekend together in the countryside when they were attacked by Death Eaters and snatched.

"Do you really think we'll get Hermione back?" Harry asked Sirius, once decisions had been made and the small meeting had broken up. Ron had headed home with his parents, while Dumbledore had gone to make sure the entire Order turned up at an emergency meeting first thing in the morning.

Sirius opened his mouth to offer his godson reassurance, but looking at Harry he found he couldn't lie to him. "I don't know Harry," he admitted quietly. "I would love to promise you that we'll get all three of them back unharmed, but I can't do that. We both know that if they're being held at Malfoy Manor then they're in big trouble."

Harry shuddered at the thought of his friends being held at the manor. Almost everyone whom the Death Eaters captured were held at the manor and very few made it out alive. As prominent members of the Order, Lupin and Tonks would be in severe danger, and Harry hated to think how Hermione would fare. Chances were that Voldemort would be fuming that her death had been faked to keep her safe from him, and there was a good chance he would take his fury out on Hermione.

"We've just got to think positive," Sirius said, trying to dispel some of the gloom that had fallen over them. "We can't give up hope of getting them back."

Harry nodded, offering his godfather a tiny smile. "You're right, we've got to think positive. They're strong, and they'll survive this. We'll get them back and win this war."

"That's the spirit," Sirius smiled warmly at the younger wizard.

Little did either Harry or Sirius know that they would soon have a new enemy to fight. Before long Voldemort wouldn't be the only person they had to worry about trying to bring down the Order. Very soon the witch they'd treated so badly would be seeking her revenge, and they were both in her line of fire.


	11. Chapter 11

Lucius had always intended being part of the group that broke into the cottage where the Order were hiding their secret prisoner, but a few days before the planned raid he'd been injured in a minor scuffle with some of the Order. The injury had been to his right shoulder, and while it wasn't serious, it was enough for Lucius to rethink his plans on joining the raid. The last thing he wanted was for his shoulder to play up at an inopportune moment and he ended up seriously hurt, or worse, killed. Fortunately, Rodolphus and Rabastan had no problems taking over the helm at the raid, while Lucius had everything prepared at the manor.

On the afternoon of the raid, Lucius was feeling slightly nervous as he double checked who was guarding the mystery prisoner. The hope had been that there was just the one guard, but as luck would have it, they'd picked a day when there were two guards at the cottage. In this instance the werewolf, Remus Lupin and the young Auror, Nymphadora Tonks. However, Rodolphus and Rabastan were confident that along with the three Death Eaters they'd selected to go with them, they could take the pair and take both of them and the prisoner into custody.

Since they had no idea who the prisoner was it had been decided that everyone in the house would be transferred to the dungeons of Malfoy Manor. The dungeons were where the dark side kept all of their prisoners, and everyone knew once they were down in the dungeons, they weren't getting out again. Once everyone was settled, it was then Lucius's job to identify the prisoner, find out why they were being kept prisoner and determine if they would be useful to the dark.

Voldemort had trusted Lucius with everything, and he'd left specific instructions that he didn't want to be disturbed until Lucius had some solid information for him. Lucius knew The Dark Lord had left the country a few days ago, apparently to see Draco wherever it was he was at the moment. He'd also been accompanied by Bellatrix, and according to Narcissa her sister had hinted that she and Voldemort would be enjoying a couple of days alone time once The Dark Lord had sorted his business with Draco.

Lucius knew that meant he would have a few days to get to the bottom of the prisoner mystery before Voldemort was even back in the country. He had hoped the mystery would be solved as soon as he spoke to someone who had been at the raid, but Rabastan was the one who informed him that the three prisoners were in the dungeons, and he didn't even know which one was the prisoner.

"There was two women there," Rabastan explained when Lucius asked him about the prisoner. "I know one of them is that Auror, but damn if I know what she looks like. Isn't she some sort of metamorphmagus?"

"Yes," Lucius replied. "Maybe your brother can help. Where is he?"

"Rodolphus stayed behind to check we hadn't missed anyone," Rabastan answered, clearly unhappy that his brother hadn't trusted his word that the cottage had been empty before they'd left. "I'm sure he'll be back before you know it."

In actual fact Rodolphus was back less than five minutes later. He confirmed the house was empty, and he informed them that the Order were already on the case and that three of them, including Harry and Dumbledore, had arrived at the cottage just as he was leaving.

"And the prisoner?" Lucius asked. "Do you have her identity yet?"

"No," Rodolphus replied with a shake of his head. "One of the rooms looked to be used full time and is filled with female clothes, but there was nothing personal to divulge her identity. The other room looks as though it's used by whoever is guarding her, and there was nothing of any interest in there either. I saw two women at the cottage, but I can't say either of them meant anything to me. They both looked familiar, but these Order members just tend to blend in together when you're fighting them."

"I know what you mean," Lucius said with a nod. In the midst of battle it was hard to keep a personal track of who you were fighting and more often than not faces blended together and you were left unsure of the identity of everyone you'd fought.

Praising the Lestranges for a job well done, Lucius turned down their offer to join them for a drink as they left the manor. With everyone else also having left, Lucius headed down to the dungeons to see if he knew who the mystery prisoner was. Unlike Rodolphus and Rabastan he was fairly sure he would recognise Nymphadora Tonks, so he would at least be able to tell which one was the prisoner, even if he couldn't identity her.

Reaching the dungeons, Lucius quickly located the cell he'd prepared for their visitors. The cell in question had a hidden stone in the wall which pulled out, providing a spy hole into the cell. Wanting to get an idea of what he would face in the cell, Lucius removed the stone and peered through the gap. The first thing he saw was two people shackled beside each other – one of whom he recognised as the werewolf, Lupin and he was ninety percent certain the other one was Tonks. Knowing the other person in the cell was the prisoner, Lucius let his gaze wander over the rest of the cell. When his gaze came to rest on the third person in the cell, Lucius let out a gasp of surprise and jumped back from the hole.

"It's not possible," Lucius muttered to himself as he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

Once his thoughts were clear, Lucius once again looked through the spyhole into the cell. This time he focused straight onto the woman the Order had been holding prisoner, and yet again he recoiled in shock at the sight. A third viewing confirmed that he wasn't seeing things. The woman the Order had been holding prisoner was none other than his son's dead girlfriend, Hermione Granger.

Not sure what the hell was happening, or what he was going to do, Lucius replaced the trick brick in the wall and slowly left the dungeons. Making his way back towards the residential part of the manor, he found his wife sitting in one of the back rooms, gazing out over the back gardens of the manor. It had been lightly snowing all day and the grounds looked stunning, but he doubted Narcissa was appreciating their beauty when she was so torn up with worry about Draco.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Narcissa remarked as Lucius perched on the chair opposite her.

"I have," Lucius replied in a whisper. "We've got some prisoners on our dungeons, Narcissa."

"A couple of the Order and their mysterious prisoner," Narcissa replied. She knew all about what her husband had been up to recently, but given her concern over Draco she wasn't overly bothered by what the Order had been up to and who they had been hiding.

"I know the prisoner," Lucius said. "I just don't understand how it can be her."

"Who?" Narcissa questioned with a frown. It wasn't like Lucius to speak in riddles, but she could see that something had seriously rattled him.

"Hermione Granger."

"Hermione Granger," Narcissa gasped. "The witch Draco loves? The one who was killed months ago?"

"Yes, her," Lucius answered. "Right at this minute, she's downstairs in one of our dungeons."

"How is that even possible?" Narcissa questioned with a shake of her head as she tried to get her thoughts in order.

"I don't know, but the girl downstairs is very much alive," Lucius replied.

"Draco," Narcissa exclaimed with a gasp. "We have to tell Draco."

"And what about The Dark Lord?" Lucius asked. "She's a muggleborn, Narcissa. How do you think he's going to react to having her back in Draco's life? Because do you honestly think Draco will carry on the way he has been with the Granger girl alive? I can't see The Dark Lord encouraging this reunion."

"And what happens if we don't tell Draco?" Narcissa demanded. "He'll find out one way or another, and if he finds out we knew about this, we'll lose him forever. Our son comes first, Lucius. Now go and get that girl out of the dungeons so we can get some answers. I want to know how she is alive when my son has lost himself to the darkness in mourning for her."

Knowing that Narcissa was right, and that despite Voldemort's presence in their lives, their loyalty was to their son, Lucius headed off back down to the dungeons. He still had no idea what was going on with Hermione, or what the outcome of her return from the dead would be, but he knew they had some time before Voldemort returned to get some answers. He only hoped the answers wouldn't lead to The Dark Lord slaughtering them all.

Back in the dungeons, Lucius didn't bother with the secret brick as he pulled back the bolt on the door and swung it open. Instantly Tonks and Lupin sprang to their feet, but they couldn't get anywhere near to him thanks to the shackles on their ankles. Lucius gave the pair a brief glance over, before turning and focusing his attention on Hermione. She was still sitting, but when she felt his eyes on her she slowly got to her feet. Instantly Lucius could see she was hurt as she cradled her wrist against her body.

"I must say, you're looking awfully spry for a dead girl Miss Granger," Lucius drawled.

"I thought the same thing when I found out I was dead," Hermione replied, glaring over at Tonks and Lupin.

Lucius didn't miss the glance, and it told him that there was tension between the trio. Hermione's remarks also led him to believe that Hermione hadn't been in on the plan to fake her death. In a way it was a relief, as he would have hated to think of his son getting involved with someone who could callously let him believe she was dead.

"You can come with me," Lucius said as he waved his wand and released the shackles on Hermione's ankle.

"Don't trust him, Hermione," Tonks warned. "The Malfoys are not your friends. We're the ones you should be trusting."

"I did trust you Tonks, and that was my mistake," Hermione replied frostily. "Trusting you resulted in my death being faked and being held prisoner for months. You set us on different paths, and now you only have yourselves to blame that we're enemies."

"We're not enemies, Hermione," Lupin pleaded.

"Yes, you are," Hermione said firmly. "And I am going to see to it that everyone involved in my 'death' will get exactly what is coming to them."

Lucius chuckled in appreciation of Hermione's lust for vengeance. He didn't know the full story, but he did know that she hated the Order with a passion. Any allegiance she may have felt to the light had died the day they'd faked her death. And now she was free, she was clearly out for vengeance, and Lucius couldn't help but wonder if joining The Dark Lord would be the way for her to get it. Although he could worry about that later, right now he wanted to get Hermione out of the dungeons and upstairs where he and Narcissa could talk to her properly.

Placing a guiding hand on Hermione's back, he ushered her out of the cell and locked a still pleading Lupin and Tonks back inside. Once the cell was secure, he turned back to Hermione and gently fixed her injured wrist.

"Thank you," Hermione said as she flexed her hand.

"I'm sorry you were hurt," Lucius said, surprised to find he genuinely meant it. Now he was faced with Hermione, he couldn't help but think about the positive effects she could have on Draco. Maybe she could succeed where everyone else had failed and return Draco to them.

"I've suffered far worse than a sprained wrist these last few months," Hermione replied with a snort. "Not physically," she corrected when Lucius gave her a surprised look. "But there are far worse pains than physical ones."

"Indeed there are," Lucius agreed. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take you to my wife. We've got a few questions for you."

"I'm sure you do," Hermione said as she followed after Lucius as he turned to leave the dungeons.

Even though Draco had never been mentioned it was obvious that Lucius knew all about them, she just couldn't work out how he felt about his son getting involved with a muggleborn. Then again, given that Draco was now a Death Eater she suspected that his love life was the least of Lucius's concerns.

Lucius took Hermione back to the room Narcissa had been settled in and he found that in his absence, his wife had sorted some refreshments from the elves. On the table was a tray of tea, sandwiches and a selection of mini cakes. Although to be honest, Lucius felt more like having a large glass of firewhisky to help him deal with the shock of conversing with a girl he'd thought had died months ago.

"It really is you," Narcissa said quietly, gasping slightly at the sight of Hermione. She'd never met Hermione in person before, but after what had happened with Draco, she'd studied the reports on Hermione's death and taken in what an exceptionally pretty girl she was.

"Take a seat," Lucius offered to Hermione, gesturing to the chair nearest to the roaring fire.

"Would you like tea, or something to eat?" Narcissa asked as she bustled around pouring cups of tea from the ornate teapot. "If the sandwiches aren't enough, I can get the elves to whip you up a proper meal."

"It's quite alright Mrs Malfoy, the tea and sandwiches are ideal," Hermione said with a smile as she took the cup of tea Narcissa handed her and helped herself to a delicious looking chicken salad sandwich.

"I have to admit, I'm not sure where to begin," Lucius said as he and Narcissa settled down on the sofa opposite Hermione. "I've got so many questions."

"It might be better if I just explain things," Hermione said. "But before that, I've got a question of my own. Where's Draco?"

"He's not here," Lucius replied carefully. He knew Draco deflection to the dark would be a big shock to Hermione and he wasn't sure he was the one who should be breaking the news to her. "He's away on some business."

"Death Eater business?" Hermione questioned. "Don't look so shocked, I know all about Draco's new life," she said with a wry smile when Lucius and Narcissa exchanged a shocked look at her question.

"Yes, he's doing something for The Dark Lord," Lucius confirmed. "But before you judge him, I can swear to you that when he received the mark he was overcome with grief. He never could have gone down this road if he knew you were alive."

"I know that," Hermione whispered sadly. "The second I found out he was a Death Eater I knew it had been my death that had tipped him over the edge. That's just one of the reasons I want to get revenge on every single person involved in the plan to fake my death."

"And is this where we get the full story as to what happened?" Lucius questioned.

"It is," Hermione replied with a nod. "But I warn you, it's a long one."

"We have time," Narcissa replied, settling back on the sofa and waiting for Hermione to relive her story.

Hermione finished her sandwich before she began to tell the Malfoys everything she knew. She started with the supposed threats Voldemort had made on her life and how Harry and the others had been so determined to protect her. She then moved on to explain what had happened at Hogsmeade the day of her supposed death, and how she woke up a couple of days later to discover what the Order had done to her. Hermione listed everyone involved in the plan, and described to Lucius and Narcissa how hopeless she'd felt stuck in that cottage knowing that the people she loved were going around thinking she'd died. By the time she got to the day's events, and how the Death Eaters had saved her, tears were rolling down her cheeks. Narcissa was also sobbing quietly as she contemplated the damage the Order had caused to Hermione, Draco, Hermione's parents and everyone else who had cared about her. For the so called light side they'd caused a lot of unnecessary heartache, and even though good intentions might have been their motivation, their actions were anything but good, and they were going to deserve everything that happened to them.

"I'm so sorry for everything you've been through," Narcissa said through her tears when Hermione finished talking.

"I'm not the only one who's been through a lot though, am I?" Hermione returned with a sad smile. "Something tells me Draco didn't join Voldemort lightly. Just what sort of a mess if he in?"

"I think you're going to have to prepare yourself, Hermione," Lucius said softly. "The Draco you remember is dead. These days he's cold and distant with everyone. Truth be told, I don't know if we're ever going to get the old Draco back."

"Maybe we can't get the old Draco back, but I'm not going to give up on him. He could be the darkest wizard alive and I would still love him," Hermione replied firmly. So far the Malfoys had been pretty accepting of her relationship with Draco, but she wanted them to know that she wasn't going anywhere and she had no intention of ending things with their son.

"And maybe that will be what finally gets through to him," Narcissa said with a small smile. "Why don't you come with me Hermione and we can get you settled into a spare room. I don't know when Draco will be back, but I do know that when he returns he'll want to see you, and I'm sure you would rather be freshened up before you see him."

"That would be great, Mrs Malfoy," Hermione said as she rose to her feet alongside Narcissa. "But what about Voldemort? Won't he have something to say about my return?"

"He's away at the moment, so let's not fret about him just yet," Lucius said reassuringly as he sent the two witches off to get Hermione settled into the manor.

Once they were gone, he poured himself a generous glass of firewhisky and settled down to think about everything that had happened. The last thing he'd ever expected was to find his son's girlfriend alive and well with the Order. He also never would have expected such a dark streak in Hermione, but what the Order had done to her had clearly affected her. Right now she was standing on the cusp of darkness and Lucius would bet every galleon in his vault at Gringotts that her desire for vengeance would push her into the darkness. The only question was, what happened once she'd sought her revenge? Would she remain on the dark, or would she then turn her attentions to Voldemort and getting rid of the dark wizard so the wizarding world could live in peace?


	12. Chapter 12

Draco stood near the top of a mountain in northern India. In his hands was a golden bracelet with emerald stones, and he was just about to drop the bracelet into a crevice. The bracelet had been the item Voldemort had sent him to India to track down. Draco had spent nearly a fortnight scouring India, searching for the bracelet. Quite early on in his search he'd heard about the gold and emerald bracelet that was passed onto the next generation of the family when they married. However the family line had died out generations ago, leaving the whereabouts of the bracelet a mystery. A bit of digging revealed the bracelet was still rumoured to be in India, all Draco had to do was find it.

Ironically Draco's search led him into the muggle world, where he found the bracelet in a museum in Kolkata. Using magic it was easy to break in and steal the bracelet. Once he had the bracelet, Draco contacted Voldemort to let him know that his mission had been a success, although he did refrain from telling The Dark Lord that he'd found the piece in the muggle world. Voldemort might just decide he didn't want it after all, and send him off in search of something else instead.

Once Voldemort knew he had the bracelet he'd arrived in India along with Bellatrix. Telling Draco to stay put for a few days, he'd disappeared with the bracelet and when he returned he gave the bracelet back to Draco and told him to hide it where no-one would ever find it, before he'd headed off for a romantic break with his lover. That was how Draco ended up in the Himalayas, looking for a safe hiding place for the bracelet. He'd chosen to drop the bracelet into a crevice, because unless you used magic it would be impossible to be retrieved.

As he threw the bracelet down into the crevice and cast a few extra security charms around the area, Draco idly wondered what the bracelet actually meant to Voldemort. This was now the fourth item he'd hidden for Voldemort, and there had to be a reason behind it. Draco just didn't know what it was, and despite making a list of the other things he'd hidden before he'd left for India, Draco found his curiosity fading again. As with everything else since Hermione died, nothing seemed important any more, and as he usually did, Draco turned his thoughts back to ending his pain.

Despite that wish, Draco knew deep down that he wasn't totally suicidal. If all he wanted to do was die, he could have done so numerous times. As Theo had pointed out months ago, he could have cast the killing curse on himself whenever he wanted, and even now he was standing in the middle of nowhere with danger surrounding him. While the crevice he'd thrown the bracelet in wasn't big enough for a person, there were plenty that were. He could easily take a tumble in the mountains, and no-one would ever find him in time to save his life. While Draco may not have been overly suicidal, he still wasn't concerned about his life. If he died, then he died, so be it.

Before he'd left for India, Draco had overheard his parents talking about him and his recklessness. They both hoped that the longer he survived, the more likely he was to start engaging in life again. Unfortunately for them, the exact opposite was happening to their son. The longer Draco was living without Hermione, the colder and more distant he was becoming. Losing Hermione had shattered him, and there was no way he was allowing himself to go through that pain again. His answer to that was to shut himself off from the world, if he didn't let anyone into his heart then it couldn't be broken any more if he lost them.

After being up in mountains for well over an hour, Draco double checked the bracelet was well protected before apparating back to his hotel. He then swiftly packed his bag, checked out and headed home to the manor.

* * *

It was nearing midnight as Lucius sat in his study, firewhisky in hand as he scanned through some papers for the family business. Not that he could focus as all his thoughts were on the witch currently residing in the guest bedroom nearest to his bedroom. Narcissa had decided it wasn't wise to put Hermione in Draco's wing give their son's recent attitude towards visitors. Lucius had agreed, but he was fully expecting her to move into Draco's wing when his son returned. Not that Lucius knew when that was going to be as there had been no word from his son since he left, so they had no idea when he was due back.

As if on cue, Lucius felt the wards of the manor ripple as someone apparated directly into the vast house. Considering the only people who could apparate straight into the manor where himself, Narcissa and Draco, he knew his son must have returned. Despite wanting to rush straight off to see Draco and inform him of everything that had happened, Lucius remained in his study to give his son a small bit of time to settle in. Once he was confident Draco would have had enough time to freshen up, Lucius headed off to see his son.

Lucius knew his son would know he had arrived the second he entered Draco's wing, and he was just hoping he didn't dash off as he often did. Lucius was hoping that after being away for weeks, he would be content to stay where he was. Luckily for Lucius, Draco hadn't left when he felt the wards been breached. He was sitting in front of the fire, in his own personal library.

"Father," Draco greeted shortly as his father approached him.

"Draco." Lucius returned. It was clear right away that Draco's time away had done little to counteract how cold and distant he was these days, but hopefully things were about to change. "May I sit, I have some things I wish to discuss with you."

"Take a seat," Draco answered. "Do you want a glass of firewhisky?" he offered as he stood up and strolled over to a nearby cupboard where he stored his liquor.

Lucius accepted the proffered drink from his son. Even if Draco was distant, his manners were still perfect and he never just told Lucius to leave. Sometimes if the conversation took a personal turn, Draco would sit stoically and not respond until Lucius gave up and left, but Lucius was determined that it wasn't going to happen this time. Although to be fair, he still hadn't worked out how to tell his son that the witch he loved and had spent the last several months mourning for was still alive.

"What can I do for you?" Draco asked as he handed his father his drink, before sitting back down in his chair.

"I'm sure you're aware that recently I've been monitoring an Order property alongside Rabastan and Rodolphus," Lucius began.

"The mystery prisoner the Order are holding," Draco replied with a scoffing snort. He'd heard what his father had been investigating lately, but frankly he thought it was ludicrous and he reckoned that whoever was giving him the information was just pulling his leg.

"You don't think it's true?" Lucius questioned, taking a sip of his firewhisky.

"I don't see who the Order could possibly be keeping prisoner," Draco answered with an unconcerned shrug. "It's already been established that no Death Eaters are missing. Those lucky sods not with us are dead."

"I do wish you wouldn't talk like that," Lucius grumbled.

"Then don't talk to me then," Draco shot back. "You know my feelings, and you know why I'm like this."

"Indeed I do," Lucius said, finishing his firewhisky and placing the empty glass on the table as he made a decision. "Come with me Draco, I've got something important to show you."

"Can't it wait?" Draco asked, making no move to get to his feet. "It's after midnight and I'm knackered."

"You'll want to see this," Lucius said firmly. "And you'll want to see it tonight."

"Fine." With a sigh Draco placed his own glass down on the table and rose to his feet. "This better not have anything to do with damn prisoners. I know The Dark Lord is keen for me to turn my hand to torture, but I'm really not in the mood tonight."

"The prisoners in the dungeons can keep," Lucius replied. "Although I'd bet that you'll be dying to get to them as soon as you can."

"So if we're not going to see the prisoners, where are we going?" Draco asked.

"To see the witch the Order have been holding captive," Lucius answered.

"Bloody hell, they did have a prisoner," Draco said, unable to hide his surprise.

"They did," Lucius confirmed. "And yesterday afternoon we liberated her. We have two members of the Order downstairs in the dungeons, but the witch the Order were keeping under lock and key is in a guest suite."

"Who is it and why were they holding her?" Draco asked. "And more importantly, why the hell is she in a guest suite?"

"I think it's better if you see for yourself," Lucius said. Even though it was late he was betting Hermione was still awake, and even if she wasn't, he knew she would want to be woken to see Draco.

"I'm not in the mood for mysteries Father," Draco snapped as Lucius turned and walked out of the library. "Just tell me what's going on."

"If you want to know what's going on, come with me," Lucius replied from outside the library, refusing to bow down and give into his son.

Not bothering to check if Draco was following him, Lucius strode down the corridor that led out of Draco's wing of the manor. Initially he wasn't sure if his son was behind him, but as he entered his and Narcissa's wing of the manor, he heard Draco muttering behind him. Lucius couldn't quite make out what his son was saying, but he was clearly baffled to be taken to his parents' wing of the manor.

As they approached the spare room where Narcissa had settled Hermione, Lucius was relieved to see a light shining under the door. Reaching the door, he turned to his son and gestured for him to knock.

"Just what is going on?" Draco asked his father rather than do as he asked and knock on the door.

"I think the witch on the other side of the door can explain better than I can," Lucius replied cryptically. "I just want you to know, your mother and I will support you in whatever you decide to do next, Draco. You may have spent months pushing us away, but we still love you and you're still our number one priority."

Totally baffled by his father's words, Draco let his curiosity get the better of him and he rapped on the door. Smiling slightly, Lucius slipped away down the corridor towards his own bedroom, leaving Draco to deal with whoever answered the door to the spare room. Just as Draco was about to give up and return to his own wing of the manor, the bedroom door began to creep open. Draco's mouth was already open, ready to give whoever was behind the door a piece of his mind when his entire world froze. Standing in front of him, as large as life, was Hermione. She was wearing a pair of silk pyjamas that Draco suspected belonged to his mother, and her long brunette hair was still damp from the shower.

"Hello Draco," Hermione said quietly as Draco staggered back from the doorway, his eyes locked on Hermione.

"I'm imagining you," Draco muttered. "You're not real."

"I'm very real," Hermione said as she carefully stepped forward and reached out her hand for her boyfriend.

Draco jumped as Hermione's hand settled on his arm. Tentatively he reached out and touched her hand as if it prove to himself that she was real. The second his hand touched real live flesh, he surged forward and pulled Hermione into his arms, tears falling from his grey eyes as he embraced the love of his life. She smelt slightly different to how he remembered, but that would be the different toiletries she'd used at the manor, but she felt exactly the same in his arms. For the first time since he'd learnt that she'd died, Draco felt complete. He just didn't know what had happened to gift him back the witch he loved.

"How?" he asked, refusing to let Hermione move from his bone-crushing embrace.

"It's a long story," Hermione replied, clinging onto Draco just as hard as he was hugging her.

Both Draco and Hermione knew they had a lot to talk about, but right now all that mattered was that they were back together. Against all odds they had been reunited, and they both silently vowed that nothing or no-one was going to tear them apart again. Now they were back together the Order needed to watch their backs, because together they were coming for them, and together they would wreak their revenge for all the months of pain and suffering they'd had to endure before they were reunited. Together they would destroy the Order and forever change the face of the wizarding world.

 **To be Continued…**

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 **A/N – Thanks for reading part 2 of Shattered Trust. Part 3 – Reunited – will be publish in a couple of weeks.**


	13. Part 3

The third part of Shattered Trust has now been posted.

It is called Shattered Trust – Reunited, and is rated M.


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